The rampant dumping and burning of hazardous waste, including plastic and rubber, in a vacant plot off Golf Course Extension Road here along the boundary wall of posh Nirvana Country township, housing villas and condominiums, has made the life miserable for its several hundred residents over the past several years, especially affecting the health of the elderly and the children.
Spread over 10 acre, the plot has turned into mini landfill site over the past decade to illegally dispose off municipal, horticulture, plastic and construction and demolition wastes. The waste, thus dumped, is regularly set on fire causing air pollution, severely affecting the residents.
The land is partially owned by a private builder and the government, claimed the residents who have on several occasions even called the Fire Brigade to put off the blaze and repeatedly reported the matter to the authorities. But all their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Ruchika Sethi, a resident who is fighting against the menace, said that a tractor driver was first caught dumping waste at the site in 2013.
The residents claimed that every time the matter was reported to the authorities, the waste was levelled and soon after that the illegal dumping resumed. It has led to several layers of inert waste at the plot and there was a need to study its environmental impact on the area.
Another resident Vippan Kapur, a management consultant, said the residents near the boundary wall of the township along the plot were the worst hit. He said the illegal dumping seemed to be done in an organised manner and was not possible with the active connivance of the government officials.
‘Well-organised racket’
“Every time the waste is set afire, construction and demolition waste is dumped the next day at that very spot to hide any evidence of the blaze. It seems a well-organised racket. On one hand, the government gives full page advertisements on Swachh Bharat, but on the other, the complaints have gone unheeded,” said Mr. Kapur.
Mr. Kapur pointed out that the students of a prominent school close to the plot were also silently suffering on account of unabated dumping and burning of waste.
Wing Commander (retd), P.L. Bajaj, (84), said he stayed a few hundred meters from the dumping site and had been experiencing acute difficulty in breathing for the last several months.
Roma Vinayak, another resident, said that staying close to the boundary wall of the township, her family bore the brunt and therefore she along with others had tried to clean the area on several occasions, but it was of little use since the dumping continued without check. “The agency owning the land must fence the plot with barbed wire to prevent dumping,” demanded Ms. Vinayak.
Nirvana Residents Welfare Association president Sunder Kalra said the association had written to the authorities concerned several times, but there was no response.
Health issues
Sanjay Mehta, a senior radiologist, said mixing of debris with wet and dry waste resulted in toxic leachate entering nearby water harvesting pits or storm water drains, exposing the consumers of this water to various cancer.
HUDA Administrator Chander Shekhar Khare could not be reached for his comments despite repeated attempts.
