Gurugram’s sanitation crisis worsens as ‘garbage mountain’ continues to grow
Despite an annual budget of over Rs 100 crores and numerous plans, the sanitation crisis continues to worsen in Gurugram. The face of the exigency is Bandhwari landfill, popularly known as garbage mountain. Hoarding waste from Gurugram and Faridabad, it is growing day by day polluting water, air and soil.
What is Bandhwari garbage mountain?
The Bandhwari garbage mountain is a large waste dumping landfill located at Bandhwari village, Gurugram, near the Faridabad-Gurugram National Highway 48. It’s 37.2 metres high and covers nearly 30 acres. It’s one of the largest landfill sites in Northern India and is facing issues related to waste management and potential environmental harm.
What are the key issues plaguing Bandhwari landfill?
Since its inception in 2010, the Bandhwari dumpsite has become a major waste repository in the region, receiving over 1,600 tonnes per day (TPD) of mixed waste from Gurugram (1,000 TPD) and Faridabad (600 TPD). The site was meant not just to store the waste but also treat it. Ever since a fire broke out in 2013, the treatment facility was damaged. It was resumed few years later, but even today only a small fraction of about 200-250 TPD in Gurugram and 400 TPD in Faridabad, of the 1,200 TPD and 1,000 TPD generated by the two cities, is processed. The remainder is simply dumped at the site. The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has a biomining capacity of 16,000 tonnes, but 1,600 tonnes of fresh waste is dumped at the waste site each day. This is primarily due to lack of source segregation and a 30-40 per cent door-to-door collection rate.
What is its impact on environment?
The Bandhwari landfill is built in an ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Aravalli ranges. Out of the 30 acres used for the landfill, 14.86 acres are situated on land protected under the Forest Conservation Act. It also lies close to Mangar Bani, which is a sacred grove forest that is also one of the only few of its kind near Delhi-NCR. The leachate overflowing from the garbage mountain is polluting the soil and water resources. There have been numerous complaints and reports about contamination of water and its impact on local villages’ flora and fauna. Many independent surveys have highlighted reduction in indigenous flora and fauna ever since the landfill was set up. The landfill has been often held responsible for forest fires in summer.
What is the impact of landfill on the residents?
The landfill is not just impacting the flora and fauna but according to complaint moved by residents of Bandhwari village, it is also causing cancer. There is foul smell in the air and there is also water and soil pollution. The villagers claim that they have been losing their livestock, forced to buy RO water and constantly suffer from pulmological and ophthalmic issues. Due to frequent fires in the landfill, the societies face issues of heavy smoke and poor air quality. The waste at the landfill is now spilled over on to the Gurugram-Faridabad road leading to mobility issues.
Haryana Tribune