The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Haryana government to stop any further waste dumping on 152 acres of ecologically sensitive Aravalli land near the Bhakri village along the Gurugram-Faridabad Road.
The interim order, dated November 5, was issued in response to a November 3 petition by Anil Arora, a member of the Save Aravallis Trust. The court has sought the state government’s response, directing that no further dumping be carried out until the next hearing on December 4. Tarun Chopra, a Faridabad resident and one of the protesters, said on Thursday,“Nearly 50 to 60 trucks of unsegregated waste were being dumped at the site daily. Earlier on October 26, Haryana Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Minister Vipul Goel told HT that Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had approved a proposal on October 24 to establish a 600-tonne-per-day pre-processing plant on Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) land in Bhankri, along the Gurugram-Faridabad Road.
We will take cognisance of the issue. This was despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibiting the dumping of municipal solid waste and construction debris in the forest areas of the Aravallis. The dumping is also contaminating the groundwater in nearby villages. Haryana ULB Minister Vipul Goel was unavailable for comment.
A senior MCF official said, “The dumping will be stopped with immediate effect.
Environmentalists alleged that dumping in ecologically sensitive areas began soon after the MCF was directed to stop dumping waste at the Bandhwari landfill following Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s intervention earlier this year.
