GURUGRAM: Dumping of construction and demolition waste around the Ghata lakein Gurgaon has been continuing unchecked over the past few months in violation of green rules, activists have alleged.
The environmentalists said the Gurgaon municipal corporation's move to penalise two persons for dumping waste near the lake in September last year had had little effect and the dumping ground had now spread over five acres around the Aravali foothills because of the repeated violation.
A senior municipal corporation official, however, found nothing wrong in the dumping of waste in the area, saying it was private land and the trucks carrying waste had taken permission from the authorities concerned.
"It shows that action and penalty imposed by the corporation weren't effective in deterring the culprits. This unauthorised landfill/ dump yard has become at least five times bigger in size now, and is in absolute violation of NGT rulings keeping in mind the alarming air pollution which is shrouding one and all. In September 2017 when I filed a complaint, the dumping site was spread in an area of about one acre, but now the size of the landfill has multiplied five times and about five acres land is used for the illegal dumping day and night. (The land) has not been checked at all by MCG," Vaishali Rana Chandra, an environmentalist, wrote in a complaint to the corporation.
The municipal corporation had in September last year imposed a penalty on two persons after Chandra's complaint.
Another environmentalist, Sharmila Kaushik, echoed Chandra.
"Ghata is an extremely eco-sensitive zone. This patch of land where waste is being dumped is located close to the Ghata Jheel. It is not only causing air pollution, but also adversely affecting the ground water. The way waste is being dumped here every day, it shows that the authorities are least concerned about the environment," Kaushik said.
Sudhir Chauhan, the corporation's senior town planner, said there was no option but to dump waste around the lake as no area had been specified as a dumping ground despite the mushrooming of realty hubs.
"It is private land, so we have told the staff to inspect the area. However, the problem is that there is no authorised construction and demolition waste-dumping site in the city. The site doesn't lie in the catchment area of the lake. I think it is okay to dump the waste there if permission is taken from the authorities concerned," Chauhan said.
Asked why two persons had been fined last year then, the official said they hadn't taken permission.
