Gurgaon: Police in Faridabad detained residents protesting the dumping of mixed waste on a disputed 102-acre plot in the Aravalis on Friday, removed their tent and formed a human chain to let the municipal corporation’s garbage trucks through. The police action coincided with repeated detentions of protesters in neighbouring Delhi demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.The protesters, including local councillor Jagat Singh Fagna, were released later that evening. On Saturday, however, protesters returned in large numbers to the plot off Gurgaon-Faridabad road, demanding an end to the dumping.A TOI visit found mixed waste spread across the site, along with drums containing a black liquid. The dumping ground lies close to Sector 49 and the villages of Bhankri, Badkhal, Pali and Nawada. An institute under the Centre’s department of biotechnology is also nearby.Fagna alleged that the land was part of the Aravali ecosystem and had been given by a thermal power plant to the forest department for afforestation. “Sector 49 is barely 150-200 metres away, the govt institute is around 200 metres away, and several villages are within a kilometre. The corporation is going to create another Bandhwari here, polluting our soil, water and air. We won’t let this happen,” he said, referring to the waste facility at Bandhwari.“How can the corporation use this land for dumping if it was given to the forest department for afforestation?” he asked.MCF joint commissioner Anil Kumar, who was present at the site, disputed the claim that the plot formed part of the Aravalis. He said the land belonged to Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) and that dumping would continue.“The land is not part of the Aravalis and belongs to HPGCL. We will continue dumping waste here. There is no violation,” he said. A tehsildar at the site said revenue records would have to be checked to establish the land’s status.Environmental activist Vaishali Rana alleged that open dumping in the Aravalis and their foothills violated the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. She called for immediate action by the forest department and Haryana State Pollution Control Board, and accused urban local bodies minister Vipul Goel of allowing another landfill in the Aravalis.A forest department official said the department had taken note of the matter and written to MCF about the dumping.Minister Goel told TOI that a processing unit would be set up at the site within 10 days to process fresh waste as it arrived. “We will also install view cutters,” he added.Asked about the detention, Faridabad police spokesperson Yashpal Yadav said the protesters were “removed” to maintain law and order.
