Solid waste found burning in Bahadurgarh , HSIIDC official put on notice

The air quality index (AQI) of Bahadurgarh town, located on the border of Delhi and Haryana, here continues to be ‘poor’ while local government offices seem to be least serious towards the implementation of guidelines issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) under stage-II of the graded response action plan (GRAP) to prevent further deterioration of the air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Local authorities of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) have found illegal dumping and burning of Solid waste at Sector 17 and Sector 4B in Bahadurgarh town during the inspection.

Taking a serious note of it, the HSPCB has issued a show-cause notice to the Senior Manager, HSIIDC, Bahadurgarh, for non-compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 as the HSIIDC is responsible for the execution of GRAP guidelines in Sector 17 and Sector 4B.

“The violation during GRAP period is of serious nature. It is a source of air pollution and needs immediate action by the officer concerned,” states the notice.

In the notice, the HSIIDC officer has been asked to remove the waste scientifically and stop the dumping/ burning activity from both sites besides submitting an action-taken report with fine/ penalty details immediately.

“The stage-II of GRAP is into force in 14 districts of Haryana falling in the NCR, hence several restrictions have been imposed to check worsening of the air quality there. As per the instructions, illegal dumping and burning of solid/ plastic waste is restricted,” said the sources.

Sources claimed the local authorities had, as per the instructions, are bound to carry out mechanical/ vacuum sweeping and water sprinkling of the vulnerable roads on a daily basis besides using dust suppressants to arrest road dust, especially at hotspots, heavy traffic corridors and proper disposal of dust collected in designated sites or landfills but the dust can be seen at many place in Bahadurgarh town, the sources added.

Notably, the HSPCB also issued show-cause notices to the Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Sonepat, and Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), Bahadurgarh, some days ago for violation of the environmental guidelines.

Amit Dahiya, SDO, HSPCB, Bahadurgarh, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.