A Gurgaon-based company engaged in waste management has been accused of burning garbage in the ecologically sensitive Aravalli mountain range.
However, the company claimed that their vehicle was hijacked by some local goons who set the garbage on fire.
The employees of the Ecogreen Energy, responsible for collecting garbage from Gurgaon and Faridabad, were caught on camera while burning garbage in the open areas of Aravalli.
Local residents have submitted a complaint against this and also sent it to the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon, the Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority and the Forest Department.
"The contract of garbage collection from Gurgaon and Faridabad followed by its disposal was given to a company named Ecogreen Energy but its employees regularly used to burn garbage in the open areas of Aravalli. This is their regular exercise," said Dayanand Rao, a resident of Gwal Pahari.
Another resident Satbir Singh said, "Residents of 16 adjoining villages are already facing health complications due to the non-functioning of the Bandhwari solid waste treatment plant and burning garbage in the region is simply creating havoc."
An official of the deputy commissioner's office, Gurgaon said they had received the complaint and forwarded it to the pollution department.
The spokesperson of Ecogreen Energy said the vehicle was hijacked by some local goons on August 15 and they forcibly burnt the garbage in Aravalli, took pictures and circulated them on the social media to defame the company.
Izarul, a driver employed with the Ecogreen Energy, had filed a police complaint at the DLF phase II police station yesterday against Dev Bhati, a resident of Behrampur, and four of his accomplices for abducting and beating him.
"Bhati took him to Ghata where he unloaded the garbage and burned it. He also took pictures of the Ecogreen vehicle. When he tried to stop him, Bhati thrashed him and warned him not to tell anyone about the incident," Izarul said in the complaint.
He also claimed that he was terrified after the incident and filed a complaint two days after the incident.
The company's CEO Ankit Agrawal said, "When you are trying to do something good for the society, it is natural for some vested interests to oppose it. From a last few months, people with malafide intention have tried to defame us."
Subhash Bokan, the PRO of Gurgaon police, said the complaint was received and local police was verifying the facts.
No FIR has been registered in the matter so far.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)