Leachate flows into Aravalis after rain, firm managing plant says will stop leak

Gurgaon: Just a day of rain on Monday led to leachate overflowing from the Bandhwari waste treatment plant (WTP). TOI visited the area on Tuesday and found several puddles of leachate near the plant as well as in the Aravali forest nearby.
The firm hired by the government to manage the waste treatment plant has said a leachate treatment plant is functional on its premises.
This is, however, not the first time that pools of leachate have been found near the plant. In 2014, after a pool of leachate was formed behind the treatment plant, the National Green Tribunal was approached by a Gurgaon resident.
Locals alleged that multiple outlets have been created from the boundary wall of the Bandhwari WTP so that leachate can flow down to the forest area.
“Small outlets through pipes and holes have been created so that the leachate could be dumped in the forest area. These pipes are underground and they open up in the forest, where small pits have been created to collect the leachate. It has been done ahead of the rainy season,” said Sunil Harsana, a local activist. Activists blamed the authorities for groundwater contamination due to leachate formation.
“Creating outlets and laying pipes to channel leachate to the forest area is clearly an attempt to hide the problem. Both the company managing the plant and the authorities are hand in gloves to befool the judiciary. There is a need to take strict action against all the stakeholders involved in hiding the problem. Leachate formation and accumulation have already contaminated groundwater. The authorities are, however, least bothered,” said Vivek Kamboj from Haryali (an environmental NGO).
Kamboj filed a plea in the NGT in 2015, demanding reallocation of the Bandhwari waste treatment plant from the Aravalis.
Ecogreen, the company hired to manage the WTP, said it would do its best to contain leachate overflowing from the site.
“We have invested more than Rs 30 crore to stop leachate spilling out even though it was not part of our responsibility. We have covered the waste and provided proper drainage for storm water. We will make sure that the leachate doesn’t flow out of site. We will treat the existing leachate that has been confined within the newly constructed ponds,” said Rajesh Kurup, COO, Ecogreen.
Every day, about 1,100 tonnes of municipal solid waste is dumped at the Bandhwari waste management plant from Gurgaon and about 500 tonnes is dumped at the plant from Faridabad.
The dumping of the waste at the plant led to a stream of dirty black water, also known as leachate in the past.
A report of Central Pollution Control Board in 2017 termed the groundwater in Bandhwari, Mangar (Faridabad) and Dera (Delhi) unfit for drinking after testing the groundwater samples.
A few reports from the state pollution control board, however, claimed the leachate didn’t cause any major contamination of groundwater.