Untreated waste dumped near Gurugram despite crores paid

In February 2023, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) awarded a tender worth ₹17.7 crore to Aadarsh Bharat Enviro Private Limited, a Pune-based company, for processing 2 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste.

- Leena Dhankhar

GURUGRAM:

Over the next year, MCG released a series of payments totalling over ₹15 crore on the promise that the company would treat the legacy waste — comprising refuse-derived fuel, construction and demolition waste, compost and inert material — before disposing them of in sites approved by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and National Green Tribunal (NGT).

But now, documents, photos and eyewitness testimonies collected by HT indicate that the company allegedly bypassed scientific processes to treat the waste, and dumped toxic untreated waste at Pali village in Faridabad, about 20km outside the purview of the MCG.

Moreover, the municipal body appears to have cleared payments — ₹6.22 crore in January 2024 and ₹7.85 crore in August 2024 — without adequately checking if the waste was processed according to norms, said MCG officials, requesting anonymity.

Internal communications seen by HT show alleged attempts by MCG officials to waive penalties, appearing to defy a directive by then Haryana chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal in 2024, saying no penalty should be waived without his explicit consent.

In all, nearly 5,000 trucks, each carrying 20 MT of untreated waste, were transported to Faridabad between April and December 2023, according to MCG officials.

Scientific processing of the waste was allegedly circumvented, experts say, saving crores at the expense of ecological and public health.

Experts estimate the vendor allegedly saved at least ₹4-5 crore by avoiding scientific processing.

The scientific process would have cost nearly ₹500 per MT, amounting to ₹5 crore.

Instead, only ₹1 crore was spent on transportation, said Vaishali Rana, an environmentalist.

MCG commissioner Ashok Kumar Garg assured thorough investigation and stringent accountability.

"We will enforce zero tolerance against environmental negligence. Vendor payments remain halted pending verification," he said.