Memo number - __SA/MSWP/001_ A Date -__12-10-2019_ Objections on the proposal of installation of new Waste Dumping Yard at Pali, Faridabad To, The Chairman Central Pollution Control Board Respected Sir, This is in reference to the proposal sent by Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon to the Municipal Corporation Faridabad proposing them to procure a land of 30 Acres in order to establish a garbage dumping yard in the Aravali area of Pali village. This proposal was prepared after a state level meeting was held at Haryana Bhawan - Chandigarh on 14th September 2019 in the chairpersonship of Mr. Anand Mohan Sharan, IAS - Principal Secretary to Government of Haryana, ULB, Chandigarh. (Letter attached herewith) The letter in hand proposes the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon and Faridabad to allot 30 Acres of land to M/s. Eco green Private Limited for dumping segregated waste of Faridabad and Gurgaon. I, on behalf of the villagers of 30 nearby villages, HUDA sectors and Save Aravali Trust would like to file following objections on this project. The following are the objections which have been raised based on the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2015. District authorities should have formulated plans and strategies to implement the provision stated in the SWM Rules before making recommendations of a project of such an enormous scale. In case they argue that such provisions have already been made then such provisions should be in the public domain. Moreover, most of these issues should already have been resolved or should had been under process before making the project recommendation because they cannot be resolved overnight and requires participation and consensus of a number of institutions, sectors, experts, and the general public. Objections- 1. The project clearly shows the failure of management being done by MCF and MCG which would eventually lead to damaging the lives in the Aravali as both the authorities have failed to operate the existing garbage plant of Bandhwari. 2. In the recent years, Hon'ble National Green Tribunal (referred as NGT further) has passed multiple orders against the MCF and MCG for playing with the lives of locals by not adhering to the municipal waste management laws and standards (details attached). 3. The Hon'ble NGT has issued penalty orders against both the municipal corporations for destroying the forest, contaminating the groundwater, disturbing the wildlife and becoming a threat to the lives of people residing in nearby villages. (details attached). 4. Both the municipal corporations have misguided the authorities by not making lines to stop leachate mixing with the ground water and by not processing the waste released. 5. The said company - M/s Ecogreen had been appointed for managing waste of both the cities and converting it to useful/less harmful substances in the year 2017. The company was also given responsibilities of picking up waste from homes, segregate it, process it and convert it to energy. But on the ground, they are picking the garbage from 60-70% of homes and unloading it at the garbage yard without segregation or processing of waste. It is submitted that no waste to energy conversion has been done. The hon'ble NGT and relevant authorities have fined this organisation multiple times for not doing their work on ground level. Relevant newspaper cuttings to this effect are annexed herewith. 6. Waste dumping is almost restricted in the MSW act of 2016. This notification of ULB Haryana actually opens gateways to MCF and MCG to freely dump the garbage instead of encouraging to segregate and process it. Hence it is contested that this order is a breach of MSW act. 7. The land mentioned in the letter is a property of Pali village which was illegally grabbed by MCF in the guise of alleged land acquisition in the year 1992 without paying any compensation to the Gram Panchayat and villagers. MCF illegally got the mutation of this land in their own records. The villagers had filed a case against the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad in the same year. This case is still pending in the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The MCF has breached the law by ignoring the on-going case multiple times by establishing Hazardous waste treatment plant, starting work of slaughterhouse and proposing waste dumping yards thrice in recent years. 8. The area proposed in the letter falls in the preserved land under Section 4 and 5 of Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900. The law restricts everyone to do any non- forestry activities in the area. 9. In the last 30 years, the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad and Gurgaon have established/proposed the following institutions in the Aravali area - 1. Stone Crusher Zone in 1992 which contributes 10% of pollution of Faridabad 2. Hazardous Waste Plant in 1995 which is contaminating the groundwater. 3. Garbage Yard in 2009 - Has become a big disease to the area and has not functioned a single day in the last 10 days. 4. 7 big bore wells to extract groundwater and supply it illegal into colonies. As a result of this Pali village has been dried out. 5. Carcass in year 2010 where the dead animals of city are thrown openly. 6. Proposed garbage Dumping Yard in of 92 acres in the year 2012 which could not get started due to heavy public agitation. 7. Christian cemetery in year 2014 which created communal riots in the area. 8. Again proposed Garbage Yard of 92 acres in year 2016 which got stopped due to big citizen movement. 9. Slaughter house in 40 acres in year 2018 which created religious disturbance. 10. Garbage Dumping yard in 30 acres in 2019 again. 10. The list above is a reflection of how Municipal Corporations are keen on destroying the forest land of Aravalli. Their intentions for Aravali, forest land and groundwater recharge zones are to treat them as waste dumping yard, carcass land, slaughter area, hazardous waste yard etc. Being a responsible authority, they have not done any productive work to conserve the forest, ground water, wildlife. 11. The documents of Bandhwari garbage yard show that this yard was made properly, all rules, regulations, laws and standards have been taken care off. But on the ground, the reality is open to public. People in nearby villages are silently moving to other places. The area of around 10-kilometre radius has been contaminated with stinky smell. Groundwater of 10 Kilometres radius is contaminated as per govt reports. (Please see news reports attached). 12. That the proposed site location is on the main express road from Faridabad to Gurgaon which has a daily traveler’s count of around one lakh. It may also be observed that this count is increasing. 13. That 20 villages and 10 residential colonies having a population of 3 lakhs are going to be affected. 14. That the site location is less than 1 KM (Air distance) from the Stone Crushing Residential Zone established by MCF and 1.67 KMs (air distance) from Pali village. 15. That the location is just one kilometer from Maangar Bani, recently notified as reserved forest by Honorable Chief Minister of Haryana. 16. That the location is less than 2 Kilometer from Asola Wildlife Sanctuary, Delhi. The information provided in recommendation letter Part-II, section-13 para- (iii) was wrong. The MSW will disturb the wildlife, act as a germinator as well as a vector of disease, encourage human-animal conflict. 17. That in the year 2002, Bhure Lal Committee headed by Mr. Bhure Lal, a senior IAS officer, submitted their report to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that the mining industry of Faridabad is destroying the flora and fauna of Aravali. That the mines are so deep that they are touching the ground water table and miners have extracted groundwater in a huge volume. Based on that report, the Honorable Supreme Court decided to stop the mining industry from Delhi NCR from immediate effect. The proposed site was also a deep mine and is filled up with groundwater. Currently, the water in it is less in volume as the general groundwater table is getting down day-by-day. It must be noted that the Gurgaon-Faridabad area has been declared as Dark Zone by the Central Groundwater Authority. 18. That the water channels to Pali and Mohabtabad waterfalls start from the same location. For your information, the Haryana Govt has recently approved a dam in Pali to store the water of that channel. 19. That the site is within the catchment area of Badkhal Lake. 20. That the translational Health Science and Technology Institute, an autonomous institute of Ministry of Science and Technology is just 2 Kilometres from the proposed location. 21. That Manav Rachna University, Aravali Institutions and MVN School are just 4 Kilometres away from the location. 22. That National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), an autonomous institute of Ministry of Finance is within 4 Kilometers. 23. The air current flows are from West to East and the proposed location is in the west side of the city. This plant will be spreading foul smell and carrying carcinogens into the city. This is dangerous for every living organism. 24. That geographically, the location is on a height from the city. The foul smell will spread around the entire city and permanently pollute the air. 25. That the area is home to leopards, Hyenas, Jackals, Deers, wild birds and other animals (as per govt record) and this plant would be a threat to their existence. 26. That Sainik Colony, Aravali Vihar, Achievers Residency, Police Officers’ Residential Society and Sector-48 are within 2-3 air Kilometers from this location.