Kejriwal directs MCD to expedite work on clearing Delhi’s landfills

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday directed municipal officials to expedite work on clearing the three landfills in the city, formulate a landfill management plan within next 15 days and construct a new construction-demolition waste processing plant on an “emergency basis”, a government spokesperson said.

The chief minister held a review meeting on Thursday with Municipal Corporation of Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi, commissioner Gyanesh Bharti and senior civic officials to check status of the ongoing work at Okhla, Bhalswa, and Ghazipur landfills.

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“There is a need to stop fresh dumping at the landfills which adds to the legacy waste. If MCD is unable to handle municipal waste on its own, it can take the help of Delhi Jal Board’s bio-digester system. Wet waste can be sent to DJB for better processing. I urge all stakeholders to work together to make Delhi a model city for waste management and environmental sustainability,” Kejriwal told officials who participated in the meeting.

Clearing the garbage mountains of Delhi was one of the ten promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the run up to the municipal elections held last year, and the chief minister visited the Okhla and Bhalswa landfill sites last month. He had announced that the Okhla landfill will be cleared by December 2023, Bhalswa by March 2024 and Ghazipur landfill by December next year.

According to a senior government official who attended the meeting, the chief minister was told that the waste processing capacity at the Okhla site could not be increased due to unseasonal rains and the delay in the operationalisation of second phase of the construction and demolition waste.

Kejriwal directed the MCD officials to plug loopholes and put the project back on track, the official added.

“The CM also directed the MCD officials to start the construction and demolition (C&D) waste plant at Okhla by April 15. The C&D waste plant is expected to significantly reduce the amount of building debris that ends up at the landfills,” the official added.

MCD is primarily processing waste at the three landfills by bio-mining and remediation in which various components of waste such as plastic, paper, cloth, sand, bricks are segregated by passing them through trommel machines -- cylindrical rotating sieves. Delhi’s landfill biomining project was initiated in 2019 on the orders of the National Green Tribunal.

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Delays in waste processing at Bhalswa landfill were also flagged during the review meeting. “MCD officials told the chief minister that the agency deployed on the site has been issued a show cause notice for shortcomings,” the official said.

Kejriwal said that the agency’s contract must be terminated by the end of this month, and a fresh tender should be issued if the agency is not able to meet work standards, the official added.