Gurgaon: A high-voltage confrontation erupted on Tuesday in Sector 23A over a vacant HSVP plot reserved for a hospital.The confrontation unfolded at a 6.5-acre plot adjoining Carterpuri cremation ground, where residents alleged that garbage had been dumped since Sept 11. Residents said that on that day, MCG started dumping garbage from wards 3 and 4 on one portion of the plot.Residents opposed the dumping of municipal solid waste while HSVP officials stepped in to stop MCG from using the site as a dumping ground.The presence of HSVP officials effectively turned the issue from a residents-versus-civic-body dispute into a question of inter-agency jurisdiction over the land.A letter submitted to the HSVP administrator by the residents of Sector 23A — on Sept 14 — sought immediate removal of the waste and questioned whether MCG had obtained permission from HSVP to use the land for large-scale municipal solid waste dumping.The dispute escalated at the site on Tuesday as residents gathered to oppose further dumping. HSVP’s engineers were also present at the spot and intervened to stop MCG from continuing with the dumping, said residents.MCG additional commissioner Ravinder Yadav told TOI, “Renovation is currently underway at our secondary waste collection point in Carterpuri. So, it is only for 10 to 15 days that we have diverted our waste to this site. Once the Carterpuri waste collection point is ready, this dumping will stop.” Responding to this, the residents asked why they should suffer even for a day.The issue has brought into sharp focus the city’s worsening waste-management crisis and the question of whether land meant for a civic purpose can be temporarily converted into a garbage dumping point without the consent of the agency that owns or controls it.Residents said the HSVP officials made it clear that MCG could not continue using the plot for dumping without the requisite permission.Rohit Yadav of Sector 23A said, “The problem is not simply that garbage has been brought here. This is a developed residential area, and thousands of people live around the site. Residents are having to deal with the smell and the possibility of rodents and other pests because a vacant plot is being used as a dumping point.”Another resident, Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, said, “Residents are happy over HSVP taking a stand against the illegal dumping of waste on its land. For the past two years, Sector 23A residents were already struggling with numerous garbage vulnerable points (GVPs), dusty roads and a pathetic and unresponsive MCG that never cared about cleanliness and hygiene. So this unauthorised dumping in the vacant HSVP land came as a severe shock and additional punishment to the residents whose backs were already broken with constantly pursuing MCG. With this dumping, no matter how temporary, as claimed by MCG, it has violated every single rulebook in the SWM policy 2016 and 2026 regarding garbage management. It is completely unacceptable.”
