Memo number - __SA/MSWP/001_ A Date -__12-10-2019_

Objections on the proposal of installation of new Waste

Dumping Yard at Pali, Faridabad

To,

The Chairman

Central Pollution Control Board

Respected Sir,

This is in reference to the proposal sent by Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon to the Municipal

Corporation Faridabad proposing them to procure a land of 30 Acres in order to establish a

garbage dumping yard in the Aravali area of Pali village.

This proposal was prepared after a state level meeting was held at Haryana Bhawan -

Chandigarh on 14th September 2019 in the chairpersonship of Mr. Anand Mohan Sharan, IAS

- Principal Secretary to Government of Haryana, ULB, Chandigarh. (Letter attached herewith)

The letter in hand proposes the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon and Faridabad to allot 30 Acres

of land to M/s. Eco green Private Limited for dumping segregated waste of Faridabad and

Gurgaon.

I, on behalf of the villagers of 30 nearby villages, HUDA sectors and Save Aravali Trust would

like to file following objections on this project.

The following are the objections which have been raised based on the Solid Waste

Management Rules, 2015. District authorities should have formulated plans and strategies to

implement the provision stated in the SWM Rules before making recommendations of a project

of such an enormous scale. In case they argue that such provisions have already been made

then such provisions should be in the public domain. Moreover, most of these issues should

already have been resolved or should had been under process before making the project

recommendation because they cannot be resolved overnight and requires participation and

consensus of a number of institutions, sectors, experts, and the general public.

Objections-

1. The project clearly shows the failure of management being done by MCF and MCG

which would eventually lead to damaging the lives in the Aravali as both the

authorities have failed to operate the existing garbage plant of Bandhwari.

2. In the recent years, Hon'ble National Green Tribunal (referred as NGT further) has

passed multiple orders against the MCF and MCG for playing with the lives of locals

by not adhering to the municipal waste management laws and standards (details

attached).

3. The Hon'ble NGT has issued penalty orders against both the municipal corporations

for destroying the forest, contaminating the groundwater, disturbing the wildlife and

becoming a threat to the lives of people residing in nearby villages. (details

attached).

4. Both the municipal corporations have misguided the authorities by not making lines

to stop leachate mixing with the ground water and by not processing the waste

released.

5. The said company - M/s Ecogreen had been appointed for managing waste of both

the cities and converting it to useful/less harmful substances in the year 2017. The

company was also given responsibilities of picking up waste from homes, segregate

it, process it and convert it to energy. But on the ground, they are picking the

garbage from 60-70% of homes and unloading it at the garbage yard without

segregation or processing of waste. It is submitted that no waste to energy

conversion has been done. The hon'ble NGT and relevant authorities have fined this

organisation multiple times for not doing their work on ground level. Relevant

newspaper cuttings to this effect are annexed herewith.

6. Waste dumping is almost restricted in the MSW act of 2016. This notification of ULB

Haryana actually opens gateways to MCF and MCG to freely dump the garbage

instead of encouraging to segregate and process it. Hence it is contested that this

order is a breach of MSW act.

7. The land mentioned in the letter is a property of Pali village which was illegally

grabbed by MCF in the guise of alleged land acquisition in the year 1992 without

paying any compensation to the Gram Panchayat and villagers. MCF illegally got the

mutation of this land in their own records. The villagers had filed a case against the

Municipal Corporation of Faridabad in the same year. This case is still pending in the

Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The MCF has breached the law by

ignoring the on-going case multiple times by establishing Hazardous waste treatment

plant, starting work of slaughterhouse and proposing waste dumping yards thrice in

recent years.

8. The area proposed in the letter falls in the preserved land under Section 4 and 5 of

Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900. The law restricts everyone to do any non-

forestry activities in the area.

9. In the last 30 years, the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad and Gurgaon have

established/proposed the following institutions in the Aravali area -

1. Stone Crusher Zone in 1992 which contributes 10% of pollution of Faridabad

2. Hazardous Waste Plant in 1995 which is contaminating the groundwater.

3. Garbage Yard in 2009 - Has become a big disease to the area and has not

functioned a single day in the last 10 days.

4. 7 big bore wells to extract groundwater and supply it illegal into colonies. As

a result of this Pali village has been dried out.

5. Carcass in year 2010 where the dead animals of city are thrown openly.

6. Proposed garbage Dumping Yard in of 92 acres in the year 2012 which could

not get started due to heavy public agitation.

7. Christian cemetery in year 2014 which created communal riots in the area.

8. Again proposed Garbage Yard of 92 acres in year 2016 which got stopped

due to big citizen movement.

9. Slaughter house in 40 acres in year 2018 which created religious disturbance.

10. Garbage Dumping yard in 30 acres in 2019 again.

10. The list above is a reflection of how Municipal Corporations are keen on destroying

the forest land of Aravalli. Their intentions for Aravali, forest land and groundwater

recharge zones are to treat them as waste dumping yard, carcass land, slaughter

area, hazardous waste yard etc. Being a responsible authority, they have not done

any productive work to conserve the forest, ground water, wildlife.

11. The documents of Bandhwari garbage yard show that this yard was made properly,

all rules, regulations, laws and standards have been taken care off. But on the

ground, the reality is open to public. People in nearby villages are silently moving to

other places. The area of around 10-kilometre radius has been contaminated with

stinky smell. Groundwater of 10 Kilometres radius is contaminated as per govt

reports. (Please see news reports attached).

12. That the proposed site location is on the main express road from Faridabad to

Gurgaon which has a daily traveler’s count of around one lakh. It may also be

observed that this count is increasing.

13. That 20 villages and 10 residential colonies having a population of 3 lakhs are going

to be affected.

14. That the site location is less than 1 KM (Air distance) from the Stone Crushing

Residential Zone established by MCF and 1.67 KMs (air distance) from Pali village.

15. That the location is just one kilometer from Maangar Bani, recently notified as

reserved forest by Honorable Chief Minister of Haryana.

16. That the location is less than 2 Kilometer from Asola Wildlife Sanctuary, Delhi. The

information provided in recommendation letter Part-II, section-13 para- (iii) was

wrong. The MSW will disturb the wildlife, act as a germinator as well as a vector of

disease, encourage human-animal conflict.

17. That in the year 2002, Bhure Lal Committee headed by Mr. Bhure Lal, a senior IAS

officer, submitted their report to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that the

mining industry of Faridabad is destroying the flora and fauna of Aravali. That the

mines are so deep that they are touching the ground water table and miners have

extracted groundwater in a huge volume. Based on that report, the Honorable

Supreme Court decided to stop the mining industry from Delhi NCR from immediate

effect. The proposed site was also a deep mine and is filled up with groundwater.

Currently, the water in it is less in volume as the general groundwater table is

getting down day-by-day. It must be noted that the Gurgaon-Faridabad area has

been declared as Dark Zone by the Central Groundwater Authority.

18. That the water channels to Pali and Mohabtabad waterfalls start from the same

location. For your information, the Haryana Govt has recently approved a dam in Pali

to store the water of that channel.

19. That the site is within the catchment area of Badkhal Lake.

20. That the translational Health Science and Technology Institute, an autonomous

institute of Ministry of Science and Technology is just 2 Kilometres from the

proposed location.

21. That Manav Rachna University, Aravali Institutions and MVN School are just 4

Kilometres away from the location.

22. That National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), an autonomous institute of

Ministry of Finance is within 4 Kilometers.

23. The air current flows are from West to East and the proposed location is in the west

side of the city. This plant will be spreading foul smell and carrying carcinogens into

the city. This is dangerous for every living organism.

24. That geographically, the location is on a height from the city. The foul smell will

spread around the entire city and permanently pollute the air.

25. That the area is home to leopards, Hyenas, Jackals, Deers, wild birds and other

animals (as per govt record) and this plant would be a threat to their existence.

26. That Sainik Colony, Aravali Vihar, Achievers Residency, Police Officers’ Residential

Society and Sector-48 are within 2-3 air Kilometers from this location.

27. That as per the data provided by the Forest Department, nearly 20000 mature trees

from a natural dense forest area to be cut to setup this plant. In a district with the

highest pollution level in Haryana and only 3.9% forest cover.

28. That ‘garbage dumping’ in developed countries like Canada is a crime. They realized

it after 50-60 years of research done on serious diseases like cancer. The Faridabad

municipality officials are highly educated and know the effects of garbage dumping,

contaminating the groundwater and making earth toxic but to give instant solutions

to urban public and leaders, they are hiding the truth and facts.

29. That there is no strategy to deal with waste other than solid waste like industrial

waste, hazardous waste, bio medical waste and e-waste and un-segregated dumping

at landfills is unavoidable as the case in previous plant in Bandhwari at Faridabad-

Gurgaon road.

30. That no strategy to deal with bulk waste generators (more than 100 kg per day) that

are public and private institutions, colleges, universities, offices etc has been

formulated.

31. That no amendment in the bye laws of Municipal Corporation, Faridabad has been

done to direct Real estate developers to earmark at least 5% land for waste recovery

and recycling facility.

32. That no proposal for allocating lands for decentralized processing of waste near the

source of generation at multiple locations throughout the city.

33. That waste hierarchy includes prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and

disposal. The project proposal submitted by District authorities seem to be concerned

of only recovery and disposal at large and reuse and recycling partially. But the most

important deterrent against waste generation like prevention, reduction and public

sensitization seem to be completely missing and should be part of the project

proposal in exhaustive proportions.

34. That resident welfare associations, hotels, restaurants, building premises more than

5000 sq.m. area are all liable to process biodegradable waste into compost or biogas

at site only but such instruction is completely missing in the building bye laws of

Municipal Corporations of Haryana. Why do we need centralized processing yard?

35. That no research and development initiative in solid waste management has been

taken at district level of Faridabad. There is a need to collaborate with various

academic institutions to undertake studies and PhD thesis.

36. That State Pollution Control Board has the least involvement in this project proposal

in fact it has a great role to play in various domains and capacities in such a proposal

of Solid waste processing plant.

37. That State Pollution Control Board has been observed to have a very lenient

approach in preparing and publishing various reports mandated by the SWM Rules,

2015.

38. That closure planning in phases should also be worked out during project proposal

but no such comprehensive study can be observed from the proposal.

39. That landfill site should be 200 m away from the Highway and should not be within

critical habitat areas and sensitive eco- fragile areas. All these points have been

directly violated in the project proposal.

40. That where will MCF go after 5-7 years once Pali site is filled like Bandhwari?

History / impacts of existing MSW managed by MCG and MCF at Bandhwari-

- The same agency was given a land of around 33 acres in Bandhwari in the year 2007.

- The agency proposed and promised to set up a waste treatment plant in the Aravali using

the latest science and technology.

- The agency worked for only two months and the vendor burnt the plant and important

documents and absconded.

- The machinery shown by the municipality and the vendor after fire was already in "not

working/scrap" condition. It did not work even a single day. This is a dereliction of duty by

MCG and gross waste of public funds.

- Since then, the municipalities of Faridabad and Gurgaon are dumping garbage and waste of

two cities without any processing.

- The annual and regular reports on environment checks and status were never submitted

after establishment of plant.

- The yard was started in mines and has now taken shape of mounts.

- The leachate, flying waste, poisonous extracts and foul/stinky smell has made the area hell.

Biodiversity, wildlife, birds and humans of the area are either dying of deadliest pollution or

migrating to other locations.

- The case of massive environmental destruction is in NGT and hopefully not in favor of MCF

and MCG at all.

- Since no processing was done in the last ten years, no space is left to fill the waste and

garbage now. Even after this, they are freely applying to destroy another bigger area of

Aravali, the only left forest of NCR.

- They have made the area of 5 Kilometer’s radius toxic. The local residents are living in hell.

They do not use ground water even for general usage. They have to import water for cattle.

- People traveling on Gurgaon-Faridabad road face stinky smell while crossing kilometers of

road. This sometimes causes accidents also.

- Wild animals are dying of eating the spreaded waste of existing dumping yard. It is a fact

that if a cow dies in that area, around 30-40 kilos of polythene comes out during post mortem.

Why these authorities are after Aravali?

1. The Municipality of Faridabad is well recognized for corruption and is almost bankrupt. It is

generally in the news that they sell their properties to pay salaries.

2. They are left with no land to sell or establish big set-ups.

3. The area is in the hills, they know that no observers will visit the plant once it is established.

4. They should have bought / acquired land in plains but since they have no money, they are

left with no choice. It is questionable that how are they going to establish the processing yard.

5. If they have budgets, they should be directed to invest in cheap plains to safeguard the

precious forests.

6. The territory does not come under MCF, they have no legitimate right to do any activity in

other than MCF area.

7. The land was illegally grabbed by MCF in the name of establishing stone crushers and

generating employment. Can they use it for other purposes?

9. The top officials of MCF work like guests in Faridabad. They stay for one-two years and

work pressure of getting things done which are politically influenced and motivated; they do

not get time to think of sustainable solutions. They complete their jobs in the short notices

and get transferred to other districts/locations. If they were to live in this area, they would

have used the wisdom to survive.

10. Faridabad Aravali has a stone crusher zone wherein 30% crushers are still in forest land.

The zone has a major role in increasing pollution level of entire Faridabad. The hazardous

waste of entire Haryana reaches to Faridabad Aravali. Bandhwari plant has made it toxic.

Entire jungle is encroached by political leaders. Is this barren land? The locals are living like

environmental slaves.

Cautious note:-

1. There is a lot of political opposition and public mobilization against the previous as well

as the proposed MSW. The citizens of this area are planning to file a case in Supreme Court

against this proposed project as a violation of their Fundamental Rights guaranteed under

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

2. Every citizen of our country has equal Right to Life whether a villager or an urbanite.

Living in villages doesn’t make them less humans to face the trouble of waste generated by

people living in cities.

3. Under the 1972 Supreme Court case of Keshvananda Bharti v/s State of Kerala, Honorable

Supreme Court has given the landmark judgment of supremacy of Constitution and the basic

structures mentioned in Preamble like equality can’t be taken away under whatsoever reason.

Recommendations:-

1. Why do MCF needs garbage dumping yards when 80% of waste can be recycled and

reused? It is strongly recommended to setup segregation units in each colony and do the

segregation of waste manually. By doing this, 80% waste can be recycled easily.

2. Why don't MCF do segregation at colony/ sector level-

- It generates employment

- To realize public how much waste do they produce?

- No landfills will be required

- They can set an example to the world if segregation model is adopted and

implemented with patience and law.

4. The biodegradable waste can easily be converted into compost. This can be sold to local

villagers on discounted rates to reduce the use of urea.

5. If the MCF has to buy it in any case, they are recommended to setup this in plain/barren

land where less effects are expected. Faridabad has got enough plain space.

6. The general public to be sensitized about waste production and management. There should

be rewards and penalties for both; citizen and vendors for managing it.

7. There should be a compost pit in every neighborhood park to create compost. RWAs to

manage it. This can reduce total waste by 50%.

8. MCF/ MCG are advised to buy land in less objectionable area and use their “Gyan and

Science” there. Converting precious forests into garbage houses is dangerous to all.

Hope that a prudent decision would be taken by the concerned authorities with respect to the

locating landfill and MSW Plant and some alternative site suitable for such activity would be

identified outside the Aravali Hills.

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards,

Jitender Bhadana

Environment Worker

C/O – Save Aravali Trust

70, Lawyers Chambers,

District Courts, Faridabad

Mobile - 99102 69102

Copy to:-

DC Faridabad

Commissioner Faridabad

MCF Commissioner

MCF Divisional Commissioner

Mayor Faridabad

Councillors Faridabad

MCG Commissioner

MCG Divisional Commissioner

Mayor Gurugram

Councillors Gurugram

Urban Local Bodies Haryana

Ministry of Environment Haryana

Secretary MOE

HSPCB

CPCB

Forest Department Haryana

Welfare of S.Cs & B.Cs

PCCF Haryana

APCCF(Forestry)

CCF(HQ)

DFO(Faridabad)

Environment and Climate Change

NCRPB

Bhoore Lal Committee

Wildlife Trust Of India

Jal Shakti Mantralya