Gurgaon: New landfill next to defunct Bandhwari plant soon

Civic authorities will meet next week to take a decision on building a new landfill next to the solid waste treatment plant in Bandhwari, along the Gurgaon-Faridabad expressway, that has been lying defunct since 2013.

The meeting holds significance as garbage from Gurgaon and Faridabad is currently dumped here without treatment and the 32-acre plant is capable of handling only 600 tonnes of garbage every day. However, it is receiving nearly 1,500 tonnes on a daily basis.

The meeting -- to be held at the MCG office on June 14 -- will be attended by officials of the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon (MCG), directorate of urban local bodies and Haryana forest department.

“The idea is to build a new plant next to the existing one under new contractual agreements with a concessionaire. The transition to the new plant will be streamlined as the logistics of transport and designated garbage points have already been worked out for the existing plant,” YS Gupta, joint commissioner, MCG, said.

According to MCG officials, once the project receives approval, companies will be selected through a tender process. The decision to finalise the company will rest on officials from the directorate of urban local bodies.

The concessionaire will be responsible for the operation of the new solid waste management plant and door-to-door waste collection.

According to MCG officials, intermediary waste collection and transfer points will also be designated by the operator. Further, the 40 crore re-establishment project has to be completed within six months and the company will be paid for the quantity of waste it treats.

The initiative may face ecological challenges, as environmentalists claim that the continued dumping of waste at the plant has led to a stream of dirty black water or leachate accumulating in the Aravalli forests, polluting aquifers around. As a result, groundwater of south Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad is getting polluted.

Presently, MCG officials are spending Rs 3.5 lakh every month for spraying bio-culture sprays on the dumping yard for decomposing the waste.

Earlier, four sites at Sohna, Pataudi, Badshahpur and Pali village (Faridabad) had been identified by the MCG as dumping sites. However, these could not be finalised due to ecological reasons and protests by local residents.

A plan to build a recycling plant at Kachara Chowk on Gurgaon-Faridabad Road was also shelved after the National Green Tribunal expressed concerns over it, as the site is notified as a protected zone of the Aravallis.