Waste crisis deepens in Faridabad, officials yet to wake up from slumber

The accumulated civic and industrial waste in the industrial sectors of 58 and 59 continues to remain a cause of acute air and water pollution in Faridabad. Though the authorities concerned have been directed to clear the waste, the issue of dumping of untreated waste in the open in the adjoining localities is yet to be resolved.

According to sources in the district administration, though a large number of industrial units have been functional in these sectors for 25 years, the untreated civic and industrial waste is being dumped on several acres of land, which has been lying unused all these years, due to defunct sewerage and disposal system.

Besides, the sewage is also being discharged in the open. The 16 acres of land adjoining Sector 59 and the neighbouring Jhar Sentli village, which is yet to be put to any use officially, has emerged as a spot for dumping of untreated waste.

“The problem has, perhaps, been due to the choked sewer line, which has no outlet or connectivity,” says Satvir Dagar, a resident of Jhar Sentli village. Blaming the agencies that had carved out the sectors or were entrusted with the work of maintenance of being negligent, he said lack of proper infrastructure related to the disposal had been the major factor behind the problem.

“Due to the sewage and civic waste not being discharged and disposed of in a proper manner, heaps of garbage have come up in the area, resulting in acute air pollution, along with the contamination of the underground water,” says Narender Sirohi, a resident of Saroorpur village. Encroachments had been another issue that had not been taken note of so far, he added.

“As the issue came up in a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, the department concerned has cleared the majority of the encroachments and the waste that had piled up in Sector 58. Its progress is likely to be reviewed soon as the two-week deadline is over,” says Suresh Chand Garg, president of the Industrial Welfare Association (IWA). He said several acres of land earmarked for developing a shopping complex had turned into the waste dumping spot. “The expansion of the infrastructure related to proper disposal and creation of the facilities of STP was the need of the hour in all industrial and commercial pockets,” says Ramneek Prabhakar, another entrepreneur.

Dinesh Kumar, Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, said the departments such as the HSVP and the HSIIDC had been asked to resolve the problem. He said the matter was likely to be reviewed soon.