Top officials discuss landfill site issues in Gurugram

The meeting was held in response to the National Green Tribunal’s instructions last Tuesday, in which the chief secretary was asked to intervene in the “sorry state of affairs” at Bandhwari.

The chief secretary to the government of Haryana on Saturday met with officials from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to discuss the ongoing pollution crisis in Bandhwari. The civic body was instructed to appoint a senior official to oversee solid waste management, while the municipal commissioners of Faridabad and Gurugram were instructed to make weekly visits to the landfill site and submit ‘action-taken’ reports, confirmed MCG officials.

The civic body was instructed to appoint a senior official to oversee solid waste management, while the municipal commissioners of Faridabad and Gurugram were instructed to make weekly visits to the landfill site and submit ‘action-taken’ reports. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“Instructions were given that these should be obtained at the earliest, especially as the landfill is near the eco-sensitive Asola Bhatti sanctuary,” a senior MCG official, who was present at the meeting, said.

Chief secretary Depinder Singh Dhesi ordered that MCG approach an organised institute to study the landfill. The official said NIS Roorkee and the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, were being considered for the same.

Yashpal Yadav, commissioner, MCG, confirmed these developments. Yadav added that he would be playing a greater role in monitoring the situation. “I will checking the progress of issues related to leachate and legacy waste treatment as instructed by the chief secretary, who has also told us to get the quality of leachate assessed and respond accordingly,” he said.

Gaurav Joshi, CEO, Ecogreen Energy, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Sunday.

The meeting was held in response to the National Green Tribunal’s instructions last Tuesday, in which the chief secretary was asked to intervene in the “sorry state of affairs” at Bandhwari. Dhesi has also been told to submit his own action taken report by May 27, the next date of hearing.