Citizens’ groups object to waste-to-energy plant

‘Proposed site is a wildlife-rich zone’

Around 200 people, including members of various citizens’ groups from Gurugram, Faridabad and villages near the Bandhwari landfill, attended the public hearing by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board on Tuesday seeking objections to the setting up of a 25MW waste-to-energy plant. Among the citizens’ groups, the members of Aravalli Bachao, Citizens for Clean Air and NCR Waste Matters Citizens Action and Awareness Group were present and spoke at the public hearing. The members of the Aravalli Bachao group demanded that the public hearing be declared null and void as it was in violation of the rules since the copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment report was not made public 30 days before the hearing as required by the law. “We want a sustainable city to live in. Cities like Indore, Ambikapur in Chattisgarh, Kerala towns are managing their waste without creating toxic waste-to-energy plants and are creating wealth by waste recovery. We want the authorities sitting here to call a roundtable of active citizens of Gurugram and Faridabad and solid waste management experts from around the country to discuss sustainable models for Gurugram and Faridabad to make these cities model cities,” said Neelam Ahluwalia of the Aravalli Bachao citizens’ group.