The Bandhwari dumpsite has change into a significant waste repository within the area since 2010 (File).
Gurugram/Faridabad:
For residents of Haryana’s Bandhwari village on the Gurugram-Faridabad border, dwelling to one of many largest landfill websites within the nation, elections imply politicians visiting the rubbish hill for “photo-ops” and making “mountains of guarantees”.
The locals, in the meantime, proceed to wrestle with contaminated water; ailments, together with problem respiration; lack of enterprise, and way more.
Since its inception in 2010, the Bandhwari dumpsite has change into a significant waste repository within the area, receiving greater than 2,000 tonnes per day (TPD) of combined waste — 1,400 TPD from Gurugram and 600 TPD from Faridabad. Sadly, solely a small fraction of the waste generated by the 2 cities is processed.
“In the previous few years, throughout summer time and monsoon, it grew to become more and more troublesome to even sit outdoors our houses. If the wind blows from the dumpsite to the village, one cannot even breathe. The waste has additionally contaminated the water within the space. From the dumpsite, it seeps into valleys and deserted mines and contaminates the groundwater. We will not even bathe within the water that comes from the village borewells,” Sumit Rawat, a villager, instructed PTI.
“Everytime there’s an election, politicians come, take photographs and announce that the dump can be eliminated however they’re simply mountains of guarantees,” he mentioned.
For Dharmveer Prajapati, who owns a petroleum pump on the Gurugram-Faridabad freeway, the landfill poses one other problem.
“Vans stuffed with rubbish come right here on daily basis and trigger visitors chaos. My employees has to maintain their faces coated on a regular basis as a result of the air round is so toxic,” he mentioned.
The ordeal is similar for dhaba homeowners on the freeway that hardly ever get prospects, in contrast to such eateries on different routes.
“There’s a foul scent, mosquitoes and dirt are in every single place, so individuals don’t want to make a cease right here. The state of affairs has worsened previously few years… It wasn’t this dangerous earlier,” mentioned dhaba proprietor Virender Tanwar.
The landfill is not only a problem for the villagers however for residents of the swanky house complexes close by.
“It’s like paying crores to get up to a foul scent on daily basis. We preserve listening to within the information that the rubbish dump might be eliminated quickly however nothing adjustments on the bottom,” mentioned Deeptiman, an house proprietor close by.
The difficulty finds point out on the high of each the BJP and the Congress’ meeting ballot manifestos.
The BJP’s Rao Narbir Singh — a former Haryana minister contesting the elections from Badshahpur in Gurugram district — mentioned the peak of the landfill had been considerably diminished and the waste was being handled.
Badshahpur is the biggest constituency within the state by way of the variety of voters.
“The waste is being handled and it has been considerably diminished. I agree the town is a civic mess however the Bandhwari landfill has been on the federal government’s agenda and measures are being taken,” he instructed PTI in an interview.
Singh blamed his occasion’s coalition with the Jannayak Janta Social gathering (JJP) between 2019 and 2024 — a interval when he was not within the authorities — for the mess.
The BJP and the Ajay Singh Chautala-led JJP shaped an alliance in October 2019 that led to March this 12 months. JJP chief Dushyant Singh Chautala was deputy chief minister within the alliance authorities.
“I blame the coalition for it (Gurugram’s civic issues). We had a majority authorities from 2014 to 2019 and anybody might see the tempo of improvement however issues went downhill since 2019. It was our coalition with the JJP that’s to be blamed,” Singh mentioned.
“The civic infrastructure division was with the JJP they usually did not do something. The individuals are upset that regardless of the BJP being on the helm of affairs, no work was performed,” he added.
Singh held the general public works division and the forest portfolios within the first time period of the Manohar Lal Khattar authorities from 2014 to 2019. He was denied a ticket by the BJP within the 2019 meeting polls.
The Congress’ Badshahpur candidate Vardhan Yadav — making his electoral debut — mentioned the landfill had been ignored by the BJP regardless of being in energy within the state for 10 years.
“The residents have begun to be recognized with most cancers due to the challenges being posed by the landfill and sadly not sufficient has been performed by the BJP authorities. Waste administration within the metropolis is a complete mess,” he mentioned.
The Haryana authorities has submitted a plan earlier than the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal, committing that the landfill website can be cleared of all legacy waste earlier than December 31.
In accordance with Municipal Company of Gurgaon (MCG) Commissioner Narhari Singh Bangar, the landfill’s top had been diminished from 50 metres to lower than 23 metres previously two years.
Whereas the MCG assured the tribunal that it could cease dumping contemporary waste at Bandhwari as a part of the motion plan, contemporary waste continues to be added to the dump.
Gurugram district has 4 meeting constituencies — Gurgaon, Pataudi, Badshahpur and Sohna — with a complete voters of greater than 15 lakh.
Meeting polls in Haryana might be held on October 5 and the outcomes declared on October 8.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by EDNBOX employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)