The Haryana government’s waste-to-energy plant project, for which the foundation was laid by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on April 13 near Bandhwari village, continues to attract the ire of waste activists and environmentalists.
Their major concerns are lack of clarity on the technology and operation of the plant.
25,000 signatures
Citizens across Gurugram had under a collective named ‘Citizens for Clean Air’ submitted a ‘Petition for Clean Air’ with 25,000 signatures to then Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) Commissioner Uma Shankar on December 2 last.
The petition was aimed at highlighting year-round high levels of air pollution, especially PM 2.5, due to non-implementation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, e-waste rules, construction and demolition waste rules, and biomedical waste rules issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
However, with the job of municipal solid waste collection and disposal being awarded to Eco Green, to be processed at a centralised facility in the eco-fragile zone, activists believe the government has pushed back efforts of the city’s eco-conscious residents for a sustainable city for future generations.
Activists argue that in absence of segregated waste collection, highly toxic e-waste — having very heavy metals such as lead and mercury — will contaminate all waste streams during collection and transportation. If it goes into the furnace, it will compound the polluted air quality exponentially.
‘Chemical life’
“Burning of mixed solid wastes with all sorts of plastic materials produces a wide range of highly toxic pollutants. More than a dozen chains of dioxins and furans are emitted from incinerator exhausts, some of them having a chemical life of more than 50 years. This means that they go on accumulating for many human generations. By various natural processes, these highly toxic pollutants from exhausts permeate into breathing zone, drinking water, vegetation and the entire biosphere,” said N. B. Nair, a retired Bhabha Atomic Research Centre scientist with specialisation in air quality monitoring.
Vibha Batra, another core member, said: “When mixed with wet waste, it will increase contamination of compost, making it unusable. According to the Environment Ministry, toxic constituents present in e-waste and their disposal mechanism can affect human health and lead to various diseases, and that transportation of e-waste has to be made more stringent.”
Activists said some of their key concerns about MCG’s integrated solid waste management plan and Eco Green’s implementation plan are limited emphasis on waste segregation at source, no provision for e-waste collection, limited focus on waste reduction and decentralised-waste management, and no provision for horticulture waste management.
Ruchika Sethi Takkar of the ‘Why Waste Your Waste’ campaign said: “The solution lies in promotion of decentralised SWM models such as biomethanation, and composting by RWAs, housing societies and institutions. The MCG should promote this by providing rebate on property tax and support price for sale of compost, and allocation of space for dry waste collection centres in each ward. This is the only way to reduce waste at source and ensure lower production of leachate on the eco-fragile water recharge zone, the Aravallis, where the plant is coming up.”
