Gurgaon: MCG has identified a 20-acre land parcel in Sohna to dump and process the city’s daily municipal waste. With nearly 15.8 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste still lying at the Bandhwari landfill, MCG is seeking to prevent newly generated garbage from adding to the mounting burden at the existing site. The urban local bodies (ULB) department has approved the hiring of a private agency for the project, estimated to cost Rs 41 crore, said officials.Currently, two agencies are engaged in processing legacy waste at Bandhwari. Diverting daily waste to Sohna is intended to allow this work to continue without additional garbage being dumped at the landfill. However, the proposed arrangement is expected to become operational by April 2027. MCG executive engineer Sunder Sheoran told TOI, “We have initiated the tender process to hire the agency for processing of daily waste for three years. Once the site is operationalised, the agency engaged in door-to-door waste collection will transport waste collected daily to Sohna.”The proposed facility follows directions issued in May this year by Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal, who asked officials to clear the sprawling garbage dump at Bandhwari within a year and submit progress reports every 24 hours. He had also directed authorities to identify an alternative site for daily waste disposal so that newly generated municipal waste would not interfere with the processing of legacy waste.Meanwhile, Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF), which stopped dumping daily waste at Bandhwari, has now openly started dumping it in the Aravalis and forest areas in and around Bhankri village. The city generates around 1,200 tonnes per day (TPD) to 1,500 TPD of waste daily, whereas Faridabad generates around 1,000 TPD of waste daily. The area — chosen by MCF as the dumping site — is part of the Aravalis and is covered under Section 4 of Punjab Land Preservation Act. The alleged dumping of daily municipal waste in this area raises concerns about the disposal arrangements being followed by the Faridabad civic body.The two civic bodies have thus taken different approaches to diverting daily waste from Bandhwari. Bandhwari has been the only dedicated disposal site for municipal waste generated by the city and Faridabad. Over the years, accumulated garbage has created a substantial legacy waste burden that authorities are now attempting to clear through dedicated processing operations. Legacy waste refers to garbage accumulated over several years at a dumpsite. Processing this waste is a separate task from managing fresh municipal waste generated daily. Diverting new waste is intended to prevent further accumulation and allow agencies to focus on clearing the existing dump.
