Gurgaon: Several waste mounds are coming up in the eco-sensitive Aravalis in Faridabad as dumping of inert materials — byproducts of municipal waste processing —is going unchecked.
The area is protected under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), which prevents all non-forest activities in the wildlife-rich zone.
These byproducts have been found dumped along Mangar road, Pali crusher zone road, Manav Rachna road, Gurgaon-Faridabad road and other areas. Sunil Dhaka, district forest officer, Faridabad, said, “We will investigate and accordingly ask MCG to remove the waste from forest land.”
Environmentalists claimed that the Bandhwari waste plant has been polluting the Aravalis and is posing a threat to wildlife and residents of nearby areas. “No non-forest activities, like dumping sand or other material, is permissible in the Aravalis. But waste residue is still being dumped here,” said Sunil Harsana, an ecologist and wildlife expert.
Around 2,000 tonnes of municipal waste is dumped at Bandhwari daily. Civic authorities have only been able to treat around 16.5 lakh MT of legacy waste so far.
“Dumping of waste and leachate in the Aravalis poses a health threat to residents because the neighbouring areas are at a higher elevation, causing leachate to spread to areas with lower elevation too. It is also destroying wildlife. Even if it is just compost waste, it should not be allowed to be dumped in forest areas,” said Vivek Kamboj, an activist.
Meanwhile, an MCG official said, “Biodegradable waste does not harm the forest or soil. But we will get it examined.”
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