Haryana Government wakes up, Solid Waste Exigency declared in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, June 12

As the prolonged sanitation crises visibly impacted the vote share of the BJP in Haryana and local MP Rao Inderjit Singh called out the state government over the issue, the Haryana Government has declared “Solid Waste Exigency” in Gurugram.

Gurugram contributes around 70 per cent of the total revenue of the state and is home to top MNCs in the country.

The city has been in the news for the sanitation crises over the past two years with waste management virtually collapsing. Already struggling with Bandhwari landfill, the city has been battling garbage mounds in every nook and corner due to consistent strikes by sanitation workers and no concrete treatment plan.

The city has been titled “Kuragram” online and is struggling with over 12 lakh metric tonnes of waste including debris. With many residents boycotting the election and voting against BJP government citing the situation, the government has finally woken up and announced exigency.

Haryana Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad who is also Chairman of the Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said that due to the alarming levels of untreated waste in Gurugram which are adversely affecting the environment and public health, the state government has declared a municipal solid waste exigency in Gurugram under Section 22 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. In order to address the critical waste management issues, SWEEP (Solid Waste Environment Exigency Program) has been initiated.

As per the plan, SWEEP, spearheaded by a high-level committee including the Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Municipal Commissioner, Chief Engineer of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Senior Environmental Engineer of Haryana State Pollution Control Board and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ), aims to overhaul waste management in Gurugram. “The committee is tasked with implementing a three-tier system for waste collection, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal across all 35 wards of Gurugram and GMDA areas,” said Prasad.

According to the Authority, this move comes in response to the Supreme Court’s order on May 13 and the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) observations, which emphasised the urgent need for a cleaner environment as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court noted that untreated solid waste severely impacts the environment and infringes on citizens’ right to live in a pollution-free environment. The NGT had previously described the situation as an environmental emergency.