As Haryana wildlife department asks for inspection of Bandhwari landfill, activists say ‘just a charade'

Time of India

18-05-2025

Gurgaon: Haryana's wildlife department last week directed its officials to inspect the Bandhwari waste treatment plant and list out all environmental norms that were being violated at the site.
It was the fifth notice to be sent in less than 12 months to its officials and MCG, which was granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) in 2019 to operate the plant that lies alongside protected
Aravali forests
.
Currently, most of the space at the site of the treatment plant is taken up by a mountain of garbage. Bandhwari is the only landfill where all municipal waste from Gurgaon and Faridabad is dumped every day even as treatment capacity has lagged.
The wildlife department on May 12 issued its latest notice to Gurgaon's wildlife inspector. "…compliance of the conditions mentioned in the granted Wildlife NOC has not been met. You were instructed to conduct an on-site inspection and submit a report on the current status to this office, which has not been received yet," the notice by RK Jangra, wildlife divisional forest officer, read.
Environmentalists alleged on Sunday that these notices were "bureaucratic charade" that has permitted authorities to degrade the Aravalis with no punitive action.
"This cycle of non-compliance has been going on for years," said Vaishali Rana, an environmental activist.
"The wildlife department issues notices, demands inspections, and yet the violations continue unabated. The most concerning aspect is that despite documented evidence of serious environmental infractions, the NOC granted in 2019 remains intact, raising questions about the efficacy of our regulatory framework," Rana said.
Since June last year, the department has issued five notices – two of which are addressed to MCG for not complying with environmental norms, and the remaining to wildlife officials to inspect the site for taking action.
Despite these letters, the plant's NOC has not been revoked – a move that experts argue should have been done years ago given extensive proof of non-compliance.
In Aug 2024, for instance, a department survey found that solid waste from the landfill was obstructing a path, which was a critical access road used for filling water in ponds and patrolling by wildlife officials in the Aravalis.
A field officer of the wildlife department told TOI that they "documented" encroachment of the Aravalis by dumping of waste and leachate in the Aug 2024 inspection.
"This
toxic leachate
is infiltrating water sources that wildlife depends on. The potential for mass poisoning of protected species is not just theoretical — it is actively occurring while we exchange paperwork," the official said.
"Consumption of this contaminated water by animals could be lethal.
We are potentially looking at cascading effects throughout the food chain, yet our warnings seem to disappear into an administrative black hole," said Sunil Harsana, an ecologist.
Environmentalists pointed to a pattern of flouting norms. The wildlife department in 2021 found in a survey that MCG's waste concessionaire was "intentionally" spilling thousands of litres of leachate from the landfill on to erstwhile mining pits in the Aravalis of Bandhwari.
TOI reported earlier this month that truckers carrying waste to the landfill were seen dumping leachate outside the site to keep a check on dust raked up from their movement. MCG officials last week admitted that this was a "serious lapse" and ordered an inquiry into illegal discharge of leachate on the ground.
Asked why the NOC was not revoked in spite of proof of violations, Jangra said he has directed the wildlife inspector to carry out an inspection.
"We will take action based on findings of the report. We will also write to the chief wildlife warden of Haryana for action this time," he said.
Rana said this was business as usual.
"Field officers document violations, divisional officers issue notices, and then the process gets stalled at senior administrative levels. Meanwhile, the Aravalis continue to be poisoned day after day, year after year," she said.
Asked about environmental norms, an MCG official said on Sunday that the corporation will "investigate" the matter to determine if there are any encroachments.
"Waste processing operations have already begun at the landfill site, managed by two separate agencies. If we identify any unauthorised encouragement or violation, we will take swift action," the official said.