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Govt invests INR RS 300 cr to address Bandhwari landfill crisis

The Haryana government is set to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore to address the Bandhwari landfill issue near the Aravalis, which has served as a dumping ground for the waste generated by the city and Faridabad over the years. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved three tenders worth around Rs […]

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Govt invests INR RS 300 cr to address Bandhwari landfill crisis

The Haryana government is set to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore to address the Bandhwari landfill issue near the Aravalis, which has served as a dumping ground for the waste generated by the city and Faridabad over the years. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved three tenders worth around Rs 150 crore to process 15 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at Bandhwari.
The move comes ahead of the state government’s hearing in the case at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 9. The government had earlier informed the NGT that 33 lakh metric tonnes of waste needed to be cleared from Bandhwari. However, the tribunal imposed a Rs 100 crore environmental compensation on the government for the piling waste. In September last year, the Gurgaon municipal corporation hired five firms to clear 17 lakh metric tonnes of trash.
For this, the government had earlier issued tenders worth Rs 152.7 crore. Officials said they decided on a cost of Rs 888-917 for treating every tonne of waste. According to a report submitted by the government at the NGT on December 19, it has cleared 15.6 lakh metric tonnes of waste between January and November this year. The report has also claimed that an additional 20 lakh metric tonnes would be removed from Bandhwari by June next year. This will add up to 35 lakh metric tonnes, 2 lakh tonnes of which will be fresh waste.
The municipal corporation is hoping to recover some of the amount from its concessionaire, Ecogreen, which, it said, was actually supposed to clear the waste at Bandhwari. But ties between the civic body and the private company have soured of late. The corporation has issued a preliminary termination notice to Ecogreen and is planning to end its services in three months. Officials said they had already slapped a recovery notice of Rs 129.2 crore on Ecogreen for failing to clear the Bandhwari waste. Additionally, other private companies hired for waste processing have also been fined Rs 7.1 crore for running behind schedule.
“The chief minister held a meeting with the municipal commissioner on Thursday and gave his approval for hiring companies needed to process the additional waste. We had finalized on the companies and were waiting for the CM’s approval. Two of these companies were hired earlier and are already clearing waste at the landfill. A third will need some time to set up machinery and start the work. We will issue the work order next,” said an official of the civic body.
The NGT has asked the director of the urban local bodies department and the municipal commissioners of the city and Faridabad to present at the hearing on January 9. The green tribunal had earlier questioned the role of the government in clearing the legacy waste and sought immediate action. City municipal commissioner PC Meena and GMDA executive engineer Vikas Malik did not respond to calls.Asked about the civic body’s Rs 129 crore recovery notice, Ecogreen COO Nagarjuna Reddy said, “We fundamentally believe it is not justified. However, the matter is sub-judice, and we don’t wish to comment outside the court of law.

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