Baddi residents join hands against open dumping of solid waste

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 10

Residents of  the twin  panchayats of  Malpur and Sandholi in the Baddi industrial area have constituted the Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti to take up the issues of increasing  pollution, hazards  of  illegal municipal waste dump and  improper functioning of the  common effluent treatment plant (CETP) in their area.

The samiti has resolved to take action against the lax  authorities responsible for the open dumping of solid waste from Baddi town in Kenduwal. Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Malpur and vice-chairperson of the samiti said, “The  Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority (BBNDA)  was supposed to set up  a Rs  9.7-crore integrated solid waste management facility on this spot. However, an open dumping site is present there which is illegal.”

In 2015, the BBNDA had received environment clearance for an integrated solid waste management project  after fulfilling as many as 36 conditions. T

he components of the project, expected to cost about Rs 9.7 crore, included a receiving facility, a compost plant, a recycling plant, a secured landfill and a leachate collection unit. However, none of this exists on the ground. Since 2016, the Municipal Council of Baddi has been throwing waste on the site where this project was to be set up.

The issue of illegal dumping came to the notice of the Environment Ministry’s regional office during its half-yearly compliance monitoring visit. Dr Bhavna Singh, a scientist, who visited the site, had reported the violations.

“We have approached the SDM, the Solan DC, the Secretary, the Urban Development, the Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment about this gross negligence and demanded  an immediate end to the dumping of waste and cleaning of the site,” said Rafiq, deputy secretary of the samiti.