Panchkula, Sept. 28 -- The Jhuriwala dumping site has raised the hackles of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which blamed it for the traffic chaos on the Panchkula-Yamunanagar highway. An NHAI official in the know of the matter revealed that the MC's heavy dumpers and machinery are blocking both the highway and its service lanes, resulting in severe congestion and road damage. "The dumping ground has unauthorised access, and the service lane has already caved in at one point. The site needs to be shut down and relocated," the officer said. The NHAI has written nearly a dozen letters to the MC commissioner and deputy commissioner, Panchkula, since 2023, flagging the issue. The officer pointed out that careless handling of garbage vehicles is spreading debris, leading to unhygienic conditions. The scattered waste also blocks culverts, causing waterlogging and road damage during rains. In one of its letters sent last month, the NHAI categorically stated that garbage vehicles had completely blocked the service lane and parts of the national highway adjoining Jhuriwala, leaving "no safe passage for regular vehicular traffic." The letter noted that garbage trucks were spilling debris and polythene bags along the stretch from Majri Chowk to TBRL Mattawali and Nagla, creating health hazards and damaging the road. It added that MC contractors were "improperly and illegally using the service road as a garbage sorting area," worsening the situation. Mohit Gupta, a resident of Sector 25, said that piles of garbage have made life miserable for nearby residents. Residents alleged that despite the MC's earlier assurance of clearing legacy waste from the site, large heaps still remain. They claimed that the MC is unable to transport the entire quantity of fresh waste dumped daily, leaving a significant portion uncollected at the site. The matter is already under the scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). In November 2022, the NGT imposed a fine of Rs 10 crore on the Panchkula MC (Rs 9 crore) and Kalka MC (Rs 1 crore) for unscientific waste dumping at Jhuriwala, located just 140 meters from the Khol-Hai-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary. The Tribunal had also directed remediation of the site and identification of a new waste management location. In its latest status report to the NGT (filed in August), the MC claimed that Jhuriwala is now being used only as a temporary transfer point for nearly 200 metric tonnes of daily waste, which is transported the same day to a processing facility at Patvi in Ambala district. It added that 95% of work on a new Material Recovery Facility at Alipur village is complete, after which Jhuriwala will be shut down. Currently, the garbage from Jhuriwala dumping site is transported to Patvi, Ambala, for processing, and the MRF at Alipur village will be functional soon, the MC said. Petitioner Sanjay Kumar, during a case hearing in November last year, submitted that ongoing waste dumping at the site is severely impacting the surrounding forest, wildlife, and nearby human settlements. He pointed out that the dumping ground lies in the path of a natural water channel, obstructing the rainwater flow from the Jhuriwala forest. Instead of draining into the Nandna Choe and eventually reaching the Ghaggar river, the rainwater now accumulates at the site. As a result, leachate from the waste mixes with stormwater, posing a serious environmental hazard....