Gurgaon: Villagers stop vans carrying garbage to new dumpsite

GURGAON: Villagers have stopped trucks from dumping waste on the two acres earmarked by MCG behind the Bandhwari landfill for dumping garbage generated by the city and Faridabad.
MCG had earlier informed a panel set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the waste generated daily in the two cities will be diverted to this land parcel from April 25.
A visit to the site, which is located at the rear end of the landfill, by TOI on Monday showed it was vacant and no machinery was set up there to process daily waste.Only a small quantity of waste was seen dumped at one corner, with the entire plot vacant. Daily waste dumping is still taking place at the main landfill site, in violation of the directions of the NGT committee.
According to villagers, MCG should first show that the plot is owned by the corporation before they start dumping there. They have alleged that a village road leading to a temple that runs parallel to the site has been encroached upon by dumping waste on it. "One of the primary reasons for our protest is that our village road leading to the temple has been encroached by MCG. Waste has been dumped on that road. Another problem is that we have been asking the corporation to show us the land demarcation report and documents which establish that the two acres of land belong to MCG. We won't let MCG dump waste at the new site," said Sanjay Harsana, a local.
Since waste dumping is still under way at the landfill, processing legacy waste has become a challenge because of space constraints. According to MCG records, only 1.7 lakh tonnes of legacy waste was processed in April against the target of 3.2 lakh tonnes.
"What we are doing is in the interest of the villagers. The land was developed scientifically with high density polyethylene sheets at the bottom so that leachate does not percolate. If villagers cooperate with us and allow us to divert daily waste to the site, it will speed up legacy waste processing. At present, daily waste is being dumped at the same site where legacy waste is being treated. Our maximum waste processing capacity is 13,000 tonnes, of which we have been able to achieve only 7,000 tonnes due to space constraints. We will have a dialogue with the villagers as we have to send our daily waste to the site," MCG commissioner PC Meena told TOI.