GURGAON: As Gurgaon grows into the technology centre of north India, it has a parallel problem to address — disposing tonnes of electronic waste. 

In a bid to address the issue, the municipal corporation has approved the plan to set up the city's first e-waste management plant. Here, the recyclable and non-recyclable electronic waste would be utilized or disposed of safely. 

The new plant would be made as an extension to the construction and demolition waste management plant which is to come up in village Kherki Majra. 

"The company Il&FS, which is building the demolition waste plant, has proposed an electronic waste plant next to it," said Y K Garg, superintending engineer, MCG. 

Garg said that the project has been approved and that the private contractor has given the corporation a timeline of 2 years for the e-waste management plant. 

"The demolition waste management plant will be up and running in the next 6 months, but the e-waste management plant will take a year and a half post that," said Garg, adding that the whole project will cost the civic body Rs 8 crore. 

Along with effluent and industrial waste, electronic waste figures right at the top of the list of most harmful forms of waste, and in a city like Gurgaon, which generates several tonnes of e-waste each day, a proper disposal facility is a necessity. 

"All the electronic waste that is generated in Gurgaon, till now, is being dumped out in the open. And Gurgaon also has hundreds of IT firms and BPOs, which generate a large amount of e-waste, not to forget the vast volumes of electronic waste coming from residential areas," said an MCG official. 

Electronic waste in the form of electronic hardware like transformers, capacitors, batteries and fluorescent tubes could be severely hazardous to health if dumped in the open, and if not handled and recycled properly. 

Such electronic components contain elements like lead and mercury, which can prove lethal if they come in contact with water or food products meant for human consumption. 

The MCG official added that the corporation will employ a team of workers and officials to collect and transport electronic waste from across the areas to the new plant. 

"There are two kinds of e-waste — one that is recyclable and the other non-recyclable. The former would obviously be recycled, while the latter would be utilized for making plastic products of different varieties," added another official with the civic body.