ARAVALLI BACHAO GROUP’S WORK IN 2021
CITIZENS PROTEST AGAINST HARYANA GOVERNMENT’S PLAN TO BUILD A WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT IN THE ARAVALLIS
The big mountain of trash on the Gurgaon – Faridabad road, now higher than the surrounding Aravalli hills witnessed the loud cries of “Remove this Polluting Landfill from our Aravalli Forest”, “If Waste Is Burnt Here, We Will Not Be Able To Breathe”, “Enforce Solid Waste Management Rules”, “Burning Mixed Waste Is Not A Solution”, “We do not want a Toxic Waste to Energy Plant in our Aravallis” by more than 60 adults and 40 children who had gathered at the Bandhwari landfill from the cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Delhi as well as the surrounding villages of Manger and Bandhwari on 24th January 2021. The theme of this campaign against the upcoming waste to energy plant is Green vs Black. The adults went to the protest dressed in green attire to show that our generation has been blessed to enjoy the beauty of nature whereas the children were all wearing black to signify the dark future that they will be inheriting as a result of the upcoming waste to energy plant which will spew out toxic gases into the already badly polluted air of NCR. Below video captures this citizens protest.
Below NDTV article gives more details on this protest.
ARAVALLI BACHAO GROUP’S WORK IN 2021
CITIZENS PROTEST AGAINST HARYANA GOVERNMENT’S PLAN TO BUILD A WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT IN THE ARAVALLIS
The big mountain of trash on the Gurgaon – Faridabad road, now higher than the surrounding Aravalli hills witnessed the loud cries of “Remove this Polluting Landfill from our Aravalli Forest”, “If Waste Is Burnt Here, We Will Not Be Able To Breathe”, “Enforce Solid Waste Management Rules”, “Burning Mixed Waste Is Not A Solution”, “We do not want a Toxic Waste to Energy Plant in our Aravallis” by more than 60 adults and 40 children who had gathered at the Bandhwari landfill from the cities of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Delhi as well as the surrounding villages of Manger and Bandhwari on 24th January 2021. The theme of this campaign against the upcoming waste to energy plant is Green vs Black. The adults went to the protest dressed in green attire to show that our generation has been blessed to enjoy the beauty of nature whereas the children were all wearing black to signify the dark future that they will be inheriting as a result of the upcoming waste to energy plant which will spew out toxic gases into the already badly polluted air of NCR. Below video captures this citizens protest.
Below NDTV article gives more details on this protest.
ARAVALLI BLACK DAY MARKED BY STUDENTS
Students 4 Aravallis team, the youth wing of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Group did awareness sessions in Galleria market and Cyber city in Gurgaon on 28th February 2021 to mark the 2 year anniversary of the passing of the regressive PLPA Amendment Bill 2019 which seeks to legalise all illegal constructions in the Aravallis and destroy the measly 3.6 percent forest cover of Haryana. The students recited a poem and spoke to the people about the regressive PLPA amendment and it’s implications on people’s lives. They also highlighted the dangers of building a waste to energy plant in the Aravallis.
Hear the voices of the Students 4 Aravallis fighting to save the green lungs and critical water recharge belt of India’s National Capital Region in this video made by Pluc TV to mark the Aravalli Black Day.
https://pluc.tv/episode/are-we-losing-the-aravallis/
Below article in the Hindustan Times covers this protest by the students:
CITIZENS PROTEST AGAINST HARYANA GOVERNMENT’S PLEA TO THE SUPREME COURT TO LEGALISE MINING
Ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing to hear Haryana government’s plea to legalise mining that has been banned in the Aravallis in Gurgaon and Faridabad since 2002, Students 4 Aravallis team members along with senior campaigners from the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement went to the Haryana Bhavan in Delhi on 3rd March 2021 to give the Resident Commissioner a petition addressed to the Chief Minister. The petition stated the Aravalli Bachao Group’s objections against this regressive move.
This article in the Times of India, Delhi gives more details on this protest:
Aravalli Bachao Citizens Group held a nationwide tweetstorm on 4th March 2021 along with forest and environment groups across India to say a resounding no to legalising mining in the Aravallis.
On 9th March 2021, Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement in association with Let India Breathe launched an email campaign in which citizens from all across the National Capital Region and pan India have been emailing the Chief Justice of India and the Haryana government asking that mining in the eco sensitive Aravallis not be legalised. This below link has both the emails.
https://linktr.ee/Aravalli_Bachao
On 14th March 2021, the Students 4 Aravallis team organised awareness drives in Gurgaon to tell people what they stand to lose if mining is legalised again in the NCR Aravallis.
In April 2021, pan India environment groups like Aarey Forest, Climate Front India, Youth 4 Climate IN organised Insta lives with Aravalli Bachao team members to create awareness for the mining in Aravallis issue and get more citizens across India to send the emails to SC and Haryana government not to legalise mining.
REPORTING ON ILLEGAL MINING IN NCR ARAVALLIS
With trekkers who keep going into the Aravalli forests regularly, the Aravalli Bachao team visited 6 different locations in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sohna, Nuh Aravallis from end March to July 2021 to document the rampant illegal mining activity. All these spots in NCR Aravallis are within 1 hour driving distance from HUDA City Centre metro station in the heart of Gurgaon. Complaint emails were written to the Haryana government and police officials were taken to the different illegal mining sites.
For more details, read this blog:
ILLEGAL MINING IN HARYANA ARAVALLIS IN VIOLATION OF SUPREME COURT ORDERS
CITIZENS PROTEST AT BANDHWARI LANDFILL AFTER IT CAUGHT FIRE IN JULY 2021
Members of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Group along with Citizens for Clean Air visited the landfill site located in the Aravalli forest on 12th July 2021 evening to protest the violation of all Solid Waste Management Rules that led to this inferno. Even 30 hours later, the fire had not extinguished. This Quint article gives more details:
ARAVALLI BACHAO TEAM MEETS THE HARYANA CHIEF MINISTER IN JULY 2021
2 members of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Group attended the grievance redressal meeting that the Chief Minister of Haryana held at Apparel House in Gurgaon on 13th July 2021 and expressed anguish over the damage that the Bandhwari landfill is doing to the Aravalli ecosystem and the health of the people and wildlife in the vicinity. We told the CM that the waste to energy (WTE) plant that the Haryana government wants to build at the landfill site is not the right solution. Waste to energy plants have not worked anywhere in India as the Indian waste composition is not suitable for burning in a WTE plant. The Aravalli Bachao Group members told the CM that Gurgaon and Faridabad municipalities need to strictly enforce waste segregation at source, decentralised waste management (composting and biogas units in the premises of every bulk waste generator and at every sector / ward level) and dry waste recovery centres in every ward. This will take care of 75 percent of both the cities’ waste in a sustainable way and eliminate the need for a toxic landfill or a polluting waste to energy plant.
Hard copy of the Aravalli Bachao Group’s change.org petition having close to 30,000 signatures was handed over by the group members to the Chief Minister. This petition states the problem of waste mismanagement at Bandhwari landfill and gives sustainable waste management solutions for Gurgaon and Faridabad that have been arrived at after consulting with solid waste management experts across India. http://change.org/RemoveBandhwariLandfill
ARAVALLI BACHAO GROUP OPPOSES EXPANSION OF WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT IN THE ARAVALLIS
Before the public hearing on 31 August 2021 for proposed expansion of waste to energy plant from 15 MW to 25 MW in the Aravallis, Aravalli Bachao Group organised Insta live talks with pan India environment & climate action groups such as Let India Breathe and FFF India to create nationwide awareness on why waste to energy is not a viable option for managing India’s waste.
On the day of the public hearing on 31st August 2021, braving the pouring rain and foul smell from the mountain of garbage in the middle of the Aravalli forest, nearly 200 residents of Gurugram, Faridabad, Delhi, and the villages of Bandhwari, Mangar, Gwal Pahari gathered to tell the authorities that they need to scrap this plan to make a polluting waste to energy plant. This video by the Quint captures the objections of citizens from different walks of life and the work of the Aravalli Bachao group in highlighting this issue.
This article gives more details:
Along with Let India Breathe, Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement launched this email campaign on the day of the Global Climate Strike on 24 September 2021 to save NCR’s lifeline: the Aravallis from the toxic impacts of a proposed waste to energy plant.
https://www.letindiabreathe.in/CancelWTESaveAravallis
PROTEST AGAINST HARYANA CM’S DECISION TO LAY FOUNDATION STONE 4 WASTE BURNING PLANT IN ARAVALLIS
On 10th December 2021, 50 citizens from different walks of life had gathered outside Vyapar Sadan building in Sector 14, Gurgaon where the Haryana Chief Minister was laying the foundation stone for the waste burning plant at Bandhwari landfill in the eco sensitive Aravallis in an online event. Citizens were protesting on behalf of 33500+ citizens who had signed on a change.org petition demanding sustainable waste management for Gurgaon & Faridabad and said a resounding NO to the Haryana government’s plan to construct a waste incineration plant in the Aravallis. The citizens including students wanted to urge the CM not to steal their future by putting up this plant when ‘waste to energy’ as a model has failed everywhere in India. Around 2:30 pm, the policemen swung into action, tearing up all the posters and shoving the protesters into a police bus that pulled up next to the group. Citizens were released after 3 hours once the ceremony was over. This detention of citizens on World Human Rights Day demanding their right to clean air and water shows the high handedness of the government authorities and worked to make the resolve of the citizens stronger. Below media article and blog gives more details.
EMAIL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO OBJECT HARYANA GOVERNMENT’S MOVE TO REMOVE 20000 ACRES OF ARAVALLIS FROM NATURAL CONSERVATION ZONE
In association with Let India Breathe, the Aravalli Bachao Group launched this email campaign to save 20,000 acres of Faridabad Aravallis from being destroyed to satisfy the greed of real estate lobby and illegal land mafia.
https://www.letindiabreathe.in/SaveAravalliNCZ
Aravalli Bachao Citizens Group also organised a nationwide tweetstorm along with pan India forest and climate action groups and highlighted this attempt of the Haryana government to destroy the Aravallis.
ARAVALLI BACHAO GROUP’S WORK IN 2022
HIGHLIGHTING HOW TOXIC WASTE DUMPED IN THE ARAVALLIS IS PLAYING HAVOC WITH NCR’S CRITICAL WATER RECHARGE ZONE
In early January 2022, the Aravalli Bachao Group came to know that solid waste from the Bandhwari landfill was being dumped in mining quarries and protected forest areas in different locations in the Aravallis in Gurgaon and Faridabad. These mining quarries are the lifeline for water recharge in the Aravallis and should not have any waste lying in them. Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement decided to get this dumped solid waste tested. We reached out to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) for this. The CSE’s Environment Monitoring Lab team came down on the 14th of January 2022 and collected samples from the solid waste thrown in the Aravalli forest just a few metres after the toll near the Bandhwari landfill on the Gurgaon – Faridabad road. This waste had an extremely foul smell and noxious fumes were seen coming out of it. Report by the Centre for Science and Environment stated that the The concentration of toxic heavy metals in the solid waste dumped in many locations in the Aravallis was way above the safe limits. The level of chromium was 262 and that of nickel was 128, against the safe limit of under 50. Pathogens such as Fecal coliform and E.Coli were also found to be way above the prescribed standards.
In March 2022, the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement shared the CSE report from the Centre for Science and Environment with the government authorities. A few environmental activists also filed a case in the National Green Tribunal for this. Months later, till date, the authorities have not managed to get their act together and the toxic heavy metals, as shown in the CSE report are continuing to percolate into our groundwater aquifers, putting the health of 30 million people living in the National Capital Region at risk. This video and article by Quint gives the details.
LEGAL CASE FILED IN NGT FOR ILLEGAL MINING IN 3 DISTRICTS OF HARYANA ARAVALLIS
Members of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement had undertaken field visits in the Aravalli areas in Gurugram, Nuh and Faridabad around India’s National Capital Region from March 2021 to March 2022 and found illegal stone and sand mining happening in contravention of judicial verdicts and environment protection laws. In many locations, we found substantial portions of the hills mined and, in some instances, completely razed to the ground. On 12th of May 2022, we filed a legal case (Application No. 362/2022 Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement Versus Union of India & Ors.) in the National Green Tribunal for illegal stone and sand mining in a total of 16 locations in the Aravallis in Gurugram, Nuh and Faridabad through the law firm Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). This blog gives details of the prayers in the legal petition and the court’s 1st order. Next date of hearing is in end August 2022.
Media coverage for this legal case:
https://thewire.in/environment/aravalli-ngt-illegal-mining-conservation
CAMPAIGN AGAINST REGRESSIVE NCR DRAFT REGIONAL PLAN 2041
Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement along with Let India Breathe launched an email petition on 4th January 2022 objecting to the dilutions made in the new NCR Draft Regional Plan 2041 which if implemented will destroy more than 70 percent of the Aravallis and other crucial natural ecosystems in India’s National Capital Region consisting of Delhi, 14 districts in Haryana, 8 districts in Uttar Pradesh and 2 districts in Rajasthan.
https://www.letindiabreathe.in/AravalliBachao
The deadline to send objections and suggestions to NCR planning Board was 7th January 2022. In 3 days, more than 3220 citizens, ecologists, conservationists and environment organizations from across India such as United Conservation Movement from Bangalore fighting to protect the Western Ghats, Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan campaigning to save the Hasdeo forest in Central India, Rainbow Warriors from Goa raising awareness on land and forest issues, Vanashakti NGO from Mumbai fighting for environment causes in Maharashtra, India Greens Party sent emails to the NCR Planning Board, Ministry of Environment, the politicians and government authorities of these 4 North Indian states objecting to the provisions of this new regressive NCR Draft 2041 and giving suggestions to strengthen the same. This blog gives more details.
GOING FORWARD
Awareness about saving the Aravallis is on the rise and the citizens movement is growing strong not just in NCR cities but all over India with people in different cities joining the cause on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@AravalliBachao). It remains to be seen if the government will declare Aravallis in all the 4 states as a protected ecosystem, withdraw the regressive Punjab Land Preservation Act Amendment Bill , cancel the plan to build a polluting waste to energy plant in the Aravallis, remove illegal encroachments and stop illegal mining to protect the oldest mountain range in India. Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement will continue to remind them of their duty.
Aravalli Bachao 