NGT unhappy with slow removal of waste from Bandhwari landfill site

Kulwinder Sandhu

Gurugram, April 4

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday pulled up the MCs of Gurugram and Faridabad for the slow processing of legacy waste at the Bandhwari landfill site and directed the civic bodies to make concrete arrangements for processing 3 lakh MT of waste per month for clearing the backlog of the waste accumulated at the landfill site.

MCG says will not repeat mistakes

The MCG pleaded before the NGT that the civic body would not repeat the mistakes of the leachate discharge in the surroundings of the landfill site, but ‘in case leachate is discharged outside the site due to the reasons beyond its control that is heavy rains etc., the MCG was committed to taking remedial measures immediately’.

The Principal Bench of the NGT while taking up two cases filed by local environmentalists Poonam Yadav and Vaishali Rana examined the physical verification report of Dr A Senthinal Vel, an expert member of the NGT, and status reports submitted by the MCs of Gurugram, Faridabad and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) regarding the management of the legacy waste and the impact of the landfill on the local environment.

Rahul Chaudhary, legal counsel for Poonam Yadav, said, the NGT was not satisfied with the slow progress of disposing of the legacy waste and asked the civic bodies to reschedule the timeline for the speedy disposal of 3 lakh MT of legacy waste per month and make all bulk waste generators accountable so that they followed the environment laws.

The NGT has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing in the two cases.

In its latest report submitted before the NGT, the HSPCB stated that its team collected leachate samples from the landfill site. The parameters — TDS, BOD, COD, ammonical nitrogen, nickel, copper, lead, chromium, tkn, fluoride, phenolic compounds and chloride— were higher than the standards prescribed for the discharge of the treated leachate on land disposal as mentioned in Schedule-II of the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2016.

In the analysis of water samples from Bandhwari and its adjoining villages it was found that the TDS, faecal coliform, turbidity, nitrate, calcium, alkanity, manganesium and total hardness levels were higher than the prescribed limits.

Meanwhile, the MCG in its status report submitted that 16.41 lakh MT of legacy waste was yet to be processed as on March 31 this year and admitted ‘slow progress in processing the legacy waste’.

A total of 30.43 lakh MT of legacy waste was assessed in January 2023. At least, 6.06 lakh MT of fresh waste was added to it by the end of December 2023. From January 1, 2024, to March 31, 2024, at least 1.30 lakh MT of fresh waste was also added to it. Last year, a total of 16.50 lakh MT waste was processed by the executing agencies hired by the MCG apart from 4.88 lakh MT processed by March 31 this year.

Citing reasons for the accumulation of waste at Bandhwari, the MCG has claimed ‘no processing of waste is taking place by the bulk waste generators leading to dumping of waste at the Bandhwari landfill site’.

Further, it claimed that the legacy leachate stored at the landfill site had been disposed of. At least 400 KLD leachete was generated at the dumping site that increased during the rainy season, depending on the quantum of rainfall, moisture content and meteorological conditions.

The MCG pleaded before the NGT that the civic body would not repeat the mistakes of the leachate discharge in the surroundings of the landfill site, but ‘in case leachate is discharged outside the site due to the reasons beyond its control that is heavy rains etc., the MCG was committed to taking remedial measures immediately’..

The civic body, while claiming that at present no leachate is overflowing beyond the boundaries of the Bandhwari landfill site, has stated that for its collection a peripheral drain has been excavated and lined with the boundary from where it is collected in the tanks for treatment.