Is MCG encroaching Aravali land? Foresters to find out

GURGAON: After concluding that 100 trees were chopped down near the Bandhwari landfill without permission, the forest department is trying to establish if the MCG encroached into the Aravalis while trying to build a boundary wall for the waste dumping site.
Forest officials said on Wednesday they have filed two damage reports this week on 100 trees chopped down illegally in the area.

“We have carried out an investigation at the site and found out that more than 100 vilayati kikar trees were felled without seeking permission. We have filed a damage report and also carried out land demarcation to find out if the MCG is expanding in its own 30 acres of land for the landfill or if it has encroached into forest area,” said Rajeev Tejyan, Gurgaon divisional forest officer.
The Aravali land near Bandhwari falls under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), which makes it mandatory to get forest department’s approval before chopping trees.
Environmental activist Vaishali Rana Chandra said MCG’s actions were against the law. “Civic bodies should not carry out any non-forestry activities in the Aravalis. They do not have any rights to fell trees or create boundary walls here,” Chandra said.
When asked, an MCG official said the corporation is carrying out work on its own land and setting up of a temporary boundary wall is necessary for construction of a treatment plant at Bandhwari.
Spread over 28.9 acres and standing 38 metres tall, the Bandhwari landfill site does not have a proper treatment plant at the moment. Around 2,200 metric tonnes of waste is added there daily.
The installation of a treatment plant at the landfill site is part of measures being taken to clear the landfill. In September last year, the National Green Tribunal had ordered Haryana government to pay Rs 100 crore as compensation for causing environmental damage in Bandhwari and take corrective measures. A panel formed to implement this order recommended setting up a treatment plant at the landfill site to process legacy waste in Bandhwari and eventually stop dumping fresh waste there.
On February 2, NGT directed the Haryana chief secretary to supervise work on the waste plant and take assistance from the Gurgaon and Faridabad municipal corporations.