Gurgaon: More than 50 hours of firefighting and, ultimately, rainfall on Friday evening fully extinguished the smoldering waste at the Bandhwari landfill site.However, MCG officials said they managed to bring about 90% of the smoldering under control before the rain set in, which eventually doused the remaining hotspots.“We were able to control 90% of the smoldering before the rain started and after rain, it has completely dosed. We have issued notices to the agencies that were recently awarded work to process legacy waste at the site,” said executive engineer Sandeep Sihag.Through Friday afternoon, the landfill continued to emit smoke, with smoldering spreading laterally across parts of the dump even as fire brigades remained deployed.MCG has given the two agencies seven days to explain why action should not be taken for breach of contract. Penalties, damages and even termination or blacklisting are being considered, as per the notices issued by the civic body on Friday.According to the notices, the fire broke out on Wednesday in an area under the contractors’ control. The civic body cited “serious lapses in safety and operational protocols,” pointing to possible negligence in waste handling, bio-mining operations and site management.Under contract conditions, the firms were required to ensure scientific waste processing, maintain fire prevention mechanisms, deploy firefighting infrastructure and comply with Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016. Officials alleged that these obligations were not met.The notice also referred to a directive issued on March 24, instructing the contractors to strengthen fire prevention measures.MCG claimed these directions were ignored, terming it a “gross violation” of contractual obligations. Officials warned that such incidents pose significant environmental and public health risks, even in the smoldering stage, due to continuous emission of hazardous gases.The contractors have also been directed to submit a detailed incident report, including the cause of the fire, timeline of events, response measures and a corrective and preventive action plan.On Thursday, MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya implemented an immediate duty roster to ensure continuous surveillance and rapid response at the landfill. Under the new arrangement, senior officers were assigned overall monitoring responsibilities, while designated officers-in-charge would oversee operational response. Assistant and junior engineers will be deployed in three shifts to maintain 24-hour vigilance at the site, a response that was triggered last year too after the fire incident in April 2025.The order mandates that officials remain physically present during their duty hours and conduct regular inspections of fire-prone and vulnerable areas. It also emphasizes ensuring the operational readiness of firefighting equipment, including tankers and emergency response systems.
