MCG to focus on 28 biggest bulk generators to ease garbage load

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Tuesday directed its seven assistant sanitation inspectors to identify 28 biggest bulk waste generators (BWGs) — four each in their respective areas — in Gurugram, and submit a report on the same by Friday, said officials on Wednesday.

MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar during a meeting on Tuesday directed the officials to identify the 28 BWGs in a bid to compost and recycle the largest possible share of their daily dumped garbage, and eventually reduce the load at the overburdened Bandhwari landfill, said officials, adding that these BWGs include hotels, townships, and commercial properties.

According to MCG, residential areas, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, commercial properties, educational institutions, and government buildings producing over 50kg of waste daily are termed as a BWG.

The Gurugram civic body is likely to hold a meeting with the owners and caretakers of these properties next week, to ensure they adhere to all the norms as listed under the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, such as on-site composting, segregation of waste into various types of categories like dry and wet, and sending recyclable items to MCG’s empanelled agencies. Their properties will be sealed if they fail to comply with the order, said Kumar.

Kumar also directed sanitation officials to focus on the biggest BWGs. “According to our estimates, 28 BWGs produce over 15,000kg of waste daily. Ensuring that they adhere to the SWM Rules will have a bigger impact in the future, than working on 150-200 properties that produce 50kg of garbage daily. Besides issuing fines, MCG will also seal such properties or cut their water and sewerage connections if found violating the norms,” said Kumar, adding that he has asked officials of its sanitation wing to submit three lists on BWGs by next week. The first list on BWGs will have detailed properties that adhere to the SWM Rules; the second list will have the non-functional composting units; and the third list will be on BWGs that do not follow the SWM Rules.

In June 2022, MCG found only 205 out of the total 614 BWGs adhering to the SWM Rules. “…We aim to reduce the daily load at the overburdened Bandhwari landfill by 25% within the next six months,” said Kumar.

Gurugram dumps around 100 tonnes of garbage at the Bandhwari landfill daily. At present, the landfill has around 2.5 million tonnes of waste — estimated 37m in height, according to MCG’s officials.

Leachate from the landfill has been contaminating the groundwater, according to a Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report, and the landfill — located next to the Aravallis — also poses threat to the forest and animals in it. There have been multiple fire incidents at the landfill due to the build-up of toxic gases from the collected garbage in the last five years, some of which have taken three days to douse, said officials. Taking cognisance of this, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2021 directed MCG to expedite clearing of waste at the Bandhwari landfill, and look for alternative sites for Gurugram to dump its waste daily.

“The efficiency of MCG’s action against BWGs will depend on their share in the total waste the city generates daily. If all BWGs produce only a fraction of the city’s waste, taking action against them will not have a major impact on the Bandhwari landfill, and a city-wide approach would be needed,” said Suneel Pandey, director of environment and waste management division at TERI School of Advanced Studies.