Gurgaon: Around a year and a half after the state government appointed Ecogreen Energy Private Limited to set up and run the city’s integrated solid waste management system, the situation at the Bandhwari waste treatment plant has become worse, despite repeated promises to look into it from the government, including the chief minister himself.On Tuesday, leachate outside the plant stood 4 feet deep, many times more than the previous month. In the same period, the landfill has also risen.The rise in accumulation of leachate is contrary to Ecogreen’s claims of having set up a leachate treatment plant at the site. However, sources in the know said the treatment of leachate is an eyewash, that the plant is not functional, and it is, in fact, leachate from the plant that is flowing into the forest from one of its sides.“The CPCB study done in 2017 had concluded that groundwater in Bandhwari and Mangar had already become contaminated. And with leachate having increased, it must have spread to other villages by now,” said Vaishali Rana, environmental activist and resident of Gwalpahari. She added the government must conduct another study and reveal the facts on groundwater quality.Solid waste management experts warned that if the situation persists, it would make things worse for neighbouring villages. “The leachate is bound to seep into and contaminate groundwater and soil. It will get worse during rains,” said Ragini Jain, a solid waste and remediation expert, who has earlier worked at Bandhwari.Ecogreen officials said the leachate under question is legacy waste, that its levels have increased due to unseasonal rains. “We’re treating leachate inside the plant, but due to the rain, its volumes have increased,” an Ecogreen official said, adding they have a four month-deadline from MCG to resolve all these issues.There is no reduction in the landfill either. Instead, it has also grown. There is approximately 25 lakh tonne of waste in Bandhwari currently. The apathy of the government in addressing the issue also drew NGT’s attention, which criticised MCG over the matter during several hearings last month.In short, the question of why the government is not replacing the agency, despite its failures in collecting, managing and treating waste, remains. Even though MCG has issued fines on Ecogreen, these have not made any substantial difference. While the size of the landfill keeps rising, Ecogreen’s waste collection mechanism has worsened, and there is no respite from roadside garbage dumps.

Stay updated with all the Latest Gurgaon headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.