Faridabad: Residents upset over disposal of untreated industrial waste

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, October 19

Residents of Jharsently village located on the outskirts of the city are upset over the alleged failure of the authorities to resolve the problem of unauthorised disposal of untreated industrial waste in the open near the village. Though the matter also came up at the Janata Darbar held by the CM recently, the problem continues to persist, it is claimed.

“With over 20 acres located in Sector 57, 58 and 59 being affected by the untreated waste for the past over seven years, it has adversely affected the quality of groundwater in the village and civic conditions resulting in serious health issues,” said Dharam Singh, president, Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of the village. Alleging that the authorities concerned have failed to comply with the norms despite the imposition of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to curb pollution in the NCR, he said the reply by the officials in response to the complaint raised at the Janata Darbar, had been misleading as nothing had been done on the ground to tackle the issue so far. Besides choking or missing of the drainage system, the disposal of waste without proper treatment had led to the problem. “Several cases of cancer, kidney failure, respiratory and lung disorders have surfaced in the past few years due to the groundwater getting concentrated with chemicals and metal-like arsenic, sulphur and lead,” he says.

While notices had been issued by the NGT in 2016 in response to a petition to various departments, some of the units had been imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each for the norms violations in October 2017. Around 350 industrial units, including electroplating and dyeing factories, are located in the area.

Alleging that the units involved in dyeing and electroplating work were discharging untreated waste, Varun Sheokand, one of the petitioners, said the discharge was a prominent cause of air and water pollution. He said the STPs or effluent treatment plant (ETP) might be functional on paper, but accumulated waste was a proof of the missing action.

DC Vikram Singh said the issue would be addressed as per the norms and no violation would be allowed.

Diseases on the rise

Several cases of cancer, kidney failure, respiratory and lung disorders have surfaced in the past few years due to the groundwater getting concentrated with chemicals and metal-like arsenic, sulphur and lead. Dharam Singh, president, residents welfare association (rwa)