The principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to submit a detailed plan and timeline for completely clearing legacy waste the Bandhwari landfill.NGT also directed the MCG to address the issue of continuous fresh dumping of waste at the location. (Hindustan Times)The bench also directed the MCG to address the issue of continuous fresh dumping of waste at the location, even as Faridabad—which accounted for 800-900 tonneof the 2,200 tonneof daily waste dumped—has made alternative arrangements for waste dumping.“Considering the forthcoming monsoon, the Municipal Corporation, Gurugram will take the adequate steps to ensure that no leachate flows outside the landfill site,” the NGT said.The directions were issued on Tuesday by a bench comprising justice Prakash Shrivastava, chairperson, and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad, which had taken suo motu cognizance of a report titled “3rd Bandhwari fire in April sparks concerns of foul play” published in these columns on April 22, while hearing a batch of matters related to waste management at the Bandhwari landfill.In a status report submitted by the MCG on July 6, 3.84 million metric tonne of a total of around 5.65 million metric tonne of waste at the landfill had been cleared, as of June 30.According to the report, the civic body has been carrying out bioremediation and biomining of both legacy and fresh waste at the site. It informed the tribunal that two agencies have been contracted this year to process 1.4 million metric tonnes of legacy waste in two phases by February 14, 2027.Further, the report mentioned that the agencies, each set a target of 700,000 metric tonnes each, had already processed around 212,000 metric tonnes. The MCG informed the tribunal that a high-powered committee, chaired by the Haryana chief minister, Nayab Singh Saini, has approved processing of an additional 20% waste, taking the total quantity to be handled by the agencies to 1.68 million metric tonnes.During the hearing, the counsel for the MCG informed the tribunal that nearly 1,500 metric tonnes of fresh waste was still being dumped at the Bandhwari landfill every day. Taking note of the submission, the tribunal granted the civic body four weeks to file a comprehensive affidavit detailing a plan to stop fresh dumping, the mechanism to achieve it and how the remaining legacy waste, including waste added in the interim, would be cleared.The tribunal also asked the MCG to disclose measures taken for source segregation of waste, the status of the landfill boundary wall and safeguards to prevent leachate from flowing onto nearby roads, water bodies and adjoining forest areas. Given that monsoon is already underway, the tribunal specifically directed the civic body to ensure that no leachate escaped from the landfill.The bench directed the Gurugram deputy commissioner to file an affidavit within four weeks on compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules and responsibilities assigned to the district magistrate under a Supreme Court, which emphasised that deputy commissioners, as heads of the district administration, are responsible for ensuring proper waste practices.The NGT bench fixed August 19 as the next date of hearing.