Pollution Board Files Bandhwari Case and Levies Rs 30.6 Lakh on MCG

GURUGRAM: Haryana's pollution-control board has filed a case in the sessions court against a Municipal Corporation of Gurugram officer over alleged violations at the Bandhwari landfill. In separate action, the board has imposed Rs 30.6 lakh in environmental compensation on MCG for non-compliance with a Commission for Air Quality Management direction.

The two actions should not be collapsed into one claim. The board's status report links prosecution to alleged statutory and waste-management violations, while the Rs 30.6 lakh levy is expressly tied to CAQM Direction 91 on fire prevention and air-pollution control at landfill and waste-disposal sites.

The action follows notices and inspection

HSPCB issued a show-cause notice on July 6 and later recorded that prosecution had been filed. The cited provisions concern required consents under water and air laws, compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules and environmental directions. Allegations in a prosecution remain to be tested in court.

The enforcement backdrop includes a June 25 fire at the 30-acre landfill. Seven or eight fire tenders were deployed and MCG said flames were controlled in about three-and-a-half hours, though smoke continued for roughly two more hours. The board's report does not state that the prosecution was filed solely because of that fire.

Fire prevention systems were already under question

An April inspection reportedly found that methane monitoring was not functioning effectively and temperature-control measures were inadequate. Both are critical at a waste mound where decomposing material can generate heat and combustible gas. Fire response after smoke appears is not a substitute for continuous detection and prevention.

The new levy sits beside older liabilities. HSPCB says Rs 7.2 crore in environmental compensation had previously been imposed under tribunal orders, of which Rs 6.3 crore was deposited, and that MCG remains liable for Rs 10 lakh per month under a December 2020 order.

Compliance needs a public operating dashboard

Residents around Bandhwari and Mangar need more than penalty totals. MCG and HSPCB should publish whether statutory consents are current, how many methane and temperature sensors work, the frequency of readings, fire-tender availability and progress on reducing legacy waste.

The dashboard should distinguish fresh waste from legacy waste and record every fire or smoke alert with response time. That would allow regulators and residents to see whether conditions are improving between formal inspections rather than learning about failures only after another incident.

Environmental compensation is meant to drive correction, not become a recurring cost of operating badly. The court case will decide individual liability. The civic test is immediate: whether the landfill's daily systems change enough to prevent another fire, smoke episode or contaminated runoff before the next inspection.