Plea flags garbage dumping in creek off Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, NGT seeks govt reply

Gurgaon: NGT has sought a response from the Haryana govt on environmental damage caused by dumping of garbage in natural creeks adjacent to Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway.

The move came on April 16 during a hearing of a plea filed last year by Deepak Rana, a resident who claimed that the dumping led to severe blockage, waterlogging and environmental degradation.

The NGT order on the hearing, released on Wednesday, sought the govt's response to the plea within a month. It issued notices to the govt through the Palwal DM, Palwal municipal corporation, and HSPCB.

Last year, NGT constituted a joint committee with deputy commissioner of Palwal and HSPCB as members, and tasked it with verifying facts of the matter, taking prohibitive and remedial actions and submitting a report within two months.

The report, delayed by months, was filed on March 19 this year. It was after going through it that NGT sought the govt's response.

The next hearing in the matter is on July 1.

Meanwhile, environmentalists said on Monday that illegal waste dumping around the creeks was particularly alarming as it could contaminate groundwater in the region. If it goes unchecked, it could also affect the region's ability to act as a natural water reservoir.

"Natural water drainage and groundwater recharge systems get affected when waste is dumped on water bodies and streams. These creeks are recharge zones, and any obstacle will prevent water from naturally flowing into these water bodies, harming even the wildlife in the area," said Sunil Harsana, an ecologist.

A TOI report on March 10 also highlighted that the city's waste management crisis had hit areas from Ghata Chowk to Gwal Pahari, extending to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road and along the Aravalis.

The city and Faridabad's municipal corporations have been struggling to scale up their garbage management capacity and find alternative land for waste treatment. The two NCR cities add 2,200 MT of garbage at Bandhwari landfill every day.

In 2022, NGT directed MCG and MCF to stop dumping fresh waste at Bandhwari and clear legacy waste piling up at the landfill within a specific time frame, a process that is delayed and ongoing.

The city, meanwhile, has just one construction and demolition waste treatment plant at Basai. It can process, at full capacity, 300 metric tonnes of debris in a day, five times less than what the city generates daily.