Take immediate action to stop waste dumping at Bandhwari: Plea in NGT

GURGAON: A city resident has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking an order to the authorities to take immediate action to stop dumping of fresh waste at the Bandhwari landfill as well as the Aravalis.
The interlocutory application, which referred to the tribunal's September 2022 order directing that daily waste dumping be stopped at Bandhwari, pointed out that dumping of waste and discharge of leachate is causing irreversible damage to the ecology and environment of the Aravalis.An interlocutory application is a plea in any court proceeding already under way.
"Waste is still continuously being dumped at Bandhwari landfill in violation of the order of this tribunal dated 23.09.2022, which is leading to fires in the landfill," the appeal by Vivek Kamboj stated.
According to the application, dumping of waste is underway outside the landfill in the adjoining forest land measuring 3,222 sqm in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, as well as the directions of Supreme Court. "Also, leachate from the Bandhwari landfill is seeping into the adjoining Aravalis, contaminating nearby waterbodies and ponds," it added.
The petitioner requested NGT to direct the authorities to take immediate action for stoppage of leachate seeping from the landfill, direct restoration of the area, including the waterbodies polluted, to its original state, and take action against the authorities for blatant violation of last year's NGT order.
"The authorities have failed to take action despite representations sent to them highlighting multiple violations," Kamboj said.
On September 11, TOI had reported that a black and foul-smelling river of viscous liquid - suspected to be leachate - emanated from the Bandhwari landfill site, flowing at least 1km away into the Aravalis.
The appeal also pointed out that there is no doubt that the black liquid is "leachate" as the reports of samples taken from the site by Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) clearly stated that the water is "toxic" and can damage the environment. "There are multiple supporting HSPCB lab reports (March 2023, May 2023, June 2023, July 2023, etc) to show that toxic poison is being discharged into the forest and now nearby villages too," said Vaishali Rana, an environmental activist.
The massive Bandhwari landfill along the Gurgaon-Faridabad road is spread over 33 acres and stands 38 metres tall. Waste from the two cities has been piling up here - and an estimated 2,000 metric tonnes is added daily - at a time authorities are looking for alternative sites after NGT imposed a deadline to clear the landfill.
In August this year, the HSPCB had imposed environmental compensation of Rs 80 lakh for flouting waste disposal norms from August 2022 to April 2023 at the landfill.