Sumedha Sharma
Tribune News Service
Gurugram, July 25
A year after being selected as one of the cities having adopted the best construction and demolition waste management practices by the Niti Aayog, many parts of the city have been reduced to a dumping ground. The city faced flash floods this monsoon and the post chaos analysis by the civic authorities found that one of key reasons for the blocking of drains was the illegally dumped debris. Residents and environmentalists are up in arms against the Gurugram Municipal Corporation (MCG) as it stopped challaning and enforcing the construction and demolition waste disposal norms.
With no deterrent, the dumping mafia allegedly owned and patronised by many civic representatives became active again and not only started dumping the debris in the city’s empty spaces and green belts but also in the Aravallis. Irked, same local environmentalists and residents have moved to the authorities seeking resumption of enforcement activities. “Last year, we had a task force which would go around not just collecting the waste from construction sites but also challaning illegal dumpers. The force had not only cleared our green belts but even the empty spaces in Sector 29, where debris was being dumped since the past 10 years. All the drains in the city are blocked as these are filled with cement, “ said Sukhjeet Yadav of Sector 17 A. The MCG had tied up with a private firm, Pragati, to clear construction waste and enforce norms. A special team was formed to enforce norms and challan violators. The drive that ran for several months helped the MCG to remove over 2.56 thousand metric tonnes of construction waste.
While Commissioner Mukesh Ahuja was unavailable for comment, a Joint Commisioner on condition of anonymity said, “ Yes, what we achieved last year has been reduced to zero as violators have no fear. The waste is illegally being dumped and there is no challaning due to pressure from councillors. We are trying to resume the enforcement activities,” he said.
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