Gurgaon: Even as MCG claims to be tightening oversight of waste management, a fresh illegal construction and demolition (C&D) waste dumping site has come up directly opposite the Bandhwari landfill. The unauthorised dump has emerged along the approach road to the landfill, a stretch used regularly by garbage trucks entering and exiting the waste disposal facility.Despite its prominent location and constant movement of MCG and waste management vehicles, large quantities of construction debris are being dumped openly without any visible intervention from the civic body.A TOI visit to the site found heaps of C&D waste scattered across the site, with several waste transport trucks parked nearby. More alarmingly, smaller quantities of what appeared to be compost generated from waste processing were also found dumped at the location, raising concerns that the site may be gradually turning into an unofficial extension of the landfill.Another parcel of land a short distance away, behind Trimurti temple on the same road, has also turned into an unauthorised waste dumping site.Truck drivers transporting waste to Bandhwari said truckloads of construction and demolition waste arrive from different parts of the city every day and are dumped at the site without checks or restrictions. According to them, there is virtually no monitoring of vehicles unloading waste at the site.“This site has emerged over the last month. Trucks carrying construction waste from different parts of Gurgaon regularly dump debris here. Waste transport vehicles heading to the landfill also park here,” said Sube, a resident of Mangar village.Environmentalists pointed out that the dumping is taking place in the ecologically sensitive Aravalis. “This is illegal dumping in the Aravalis, which are protected under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA). MCG is allowing construction waste to be dumped in this area, and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board should take note of it,” said environmentalist Vaishali Rana.MCG officials, however, said they were unaware of the dumping taking place in front of the landfill and at other locations along the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road. “We will look into the matter and take appropriate action against those found responsible for the illegal dumping,” said MCG additional commissioner Ravinder Yadav.Residents and commuters said the dumping has also affected movement along the road. “Construction waste is being dumped indiscriminately. In the evening, dust from the site makes it difficult to travel on this stretch. There is a landfill on one side of the road and now an illegal C&D waste dump on the other,” said a commuter, Jitender Yadav.As the city grapples with mounting waste management challenges, the emergence of a dumping site opposite the landfill underscores a troubling reality: illegal disposal continues to thrive not in remote corners of the city, but right under the noses of the authorities entrusted with preventing it.
