MCG, GMDA and HSPCB join hands to prepare district environment plan for Gurugram

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) have joined

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) have joined hands to prepare a district-level environmental management plan for Gurugram. The plan, which is expected to provide a detailed overview of steps to be taken to manage the district’s solid waste, water and sewage, and air pollution, will be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) by December 31, officials said.

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The nation-wide exercise is being done by all district administrations, pursuant to an National Green Tribunal (NGT) order from earlier this year, which directed that “Department of Environment in respective States/UTs should collect district plans to prepare State Environment Plan, which shall be monitored by respective Chief Secretaries of State/UT”.  

Based on these state-level plans, the CPCB and Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) are expected to prepare a National Environmental Plan, under the supervision of CPCB chairman and MoEF&CC secretary. The nation-wide plan is due to be submitted before the NGT by January 15.

A templatised version of the district environment plan (available on the CPCB’s website) assigns sub-plans— for waste management, water quality management, domestic sewage management, industrial wastewater management, air quality management, mining management and noise pollution management—across “seven thematic areas by capturing basic information on 64 action areas through about 220 data points”.

“We have already sent the air quality and noise pollution management plans to the district authorities. The mining management plan isn’t applicable to the district and all mining activity in the Aravallis has been stopped,” HSPCB regional officer (Gurugram) Kuldeep Singh said. “We have floated tenders for carrying out detailed air and noise pollution studies for Gurugram,” he said.

Singh added that the GMDA is preparing a water and sewage management plan, while the MCG is preparing a plan for management of solid waste, including municipal waste, plastic waste, construction and demolition waste, medical waste, hazardous waste and e-waste.

“The GMDA has formulated a sewage management plan, according to which we will divert all wastewater to our sewage treatment plants and monitor the treated sewage for quality. We are also coordinating with various other bodies, such as the HSVP and HSIIDC, to ensure that no wastewater is discharged into stormwater drains, as per previous NGT orders,” GMDA chief engineer Lalit Arora said, adding that pollution monitoring sensors have been fitted in city’s major stormwater drains—Badshahpur and Najafgarh. He added that the final plan for sewage and water quality management would be submitted to the district magistrate by the end of December.

MCG officials, including commissioner Amit Khatri, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.