December 21, 2017

Waste and citizen experts hold a roundtable for Gurgaon’s integrated waste management project. About 70 delegates from across a cross-section of waste experts and citizen experts attended a roundtable organised by Gurgaon First on “Next Steps in Waste Management in Gurugram” at School of Inspired Learning located in Sector 44 in Gurugram. The objective of the roundtable was to understand the plans and priorities with respect to the integrated waste management project for Gurugram and Faridabad by Ecogreen Energy Pvt Ltd. The concession agreement for the project was signed by The Haryana Government appointed Ecogreen Energy to implement integrated solid waste management project for Gurugram and Faridabad for which contract was signed in August 2017.

Mr V Umashankar, commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram was present at the roundtable. He provided clarity on the way forward for waste management in Gurugram by answering a number of questions and doubts of the citizen representatives and waste experts. There were concerns by citizens about segregation at source not being one of the prime objectives of the project. There were also questions about the setting up of transit stations by Ecogreen and whether they will let out odour. Citizens also wanted to know whether decentralized waste management would be allowed to continue in the city. The citizens were also concerned about e-waste, bio-medical waste, C&D waste and hazardous waste.

Allaying these fears, Mr Umashankar, commissioner, MCG clarified that both centralized and decentralized systems can continue and co-exist in the city. He also clarified that the project will cover only solid waste and not e-waste or bio-medical waste. He talked about the fact that a three member “Project Management Unit” will be set up shortly to monitor the project. He also talked about creation of a second tier-citizen monitoring group. He informed that the entire project will have to get an environmental clearance before it gets started. There was also a talk about the need for a stringent ban on plastics, about the need for working with ragpickers as well as CSR by the company in the villages around Bandhwari where the project is coming up.

The two-hour Roundtable began with the waste overview of Gurugram presented by Gurgaon First. Mr Ankit Aggarwal, CEO, Ecogreen Energy Pvt Ltd gave a detailed overview of the project and the timelines. According to him, the management of the project site at Bandhwari on the Gurugram Faridabad road commenced on September 21. The company has started door-to-door waste collection from the city on December 13 and expects to cover the entire city by March 2018. It is in the process of constructing 5 transfer stations and 6 mini transfer stations throughout the city. The company hopes to make Gurugram an open dumping free city. The waste collected will be used to make compost and electricity. The project will start generating electricity by June 2019. The financial closure of the project has already been achieved.