(HT)
Slow pace of legacy waste processing at the Ghazipur landfill site is likely to lead to waste spillover to other landfills in the city. Officials aware of the matter said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) plans to divert around 90,000 tonnes of fresh garbage annually from the Ghazipur landfill to the Okhla landfill in southeast Delhi, citing “unstable slopes” and “space constraints” in the run-up to monsoon, as part of its biomining project to flatten Delhi’s three landfills.
While biomining projects at three landfills — the third situated at Bhalswa — have been marred by delays due to continuing daily waste dumping, officials said that the Okhla landfill has clocked maximum progress and Ghazipur, has the least.
Biomining is the scientific process of excavation, treatment, segregation and gainful utilisation of legacy waste.
A senior MCD official, requesting not to be named, said: “Presently, there is no regular fresh waste dumping at the Okhla site as the fresh waste was consumed by commissioning the Tehkhand waste-to-energy (WtE) plant. However, approximately 90,000 tonnes per year of fresh waste of will be diverted to the Okhla dump site from time to time as Ghazipur has unstable slope and space constraints during monsoon.”
The Ghazipur landfill in east Delhi—one of the largest in the country — has been in the centre of poor waste management in the city due to an array of issues.The landfill site holds more waste than the other two landfills, cumulatively. Officials said that the pace of work has been slowest at the Ghazipur landfill — it had 14 million tonnes of legacy waste at the onset of biomining—with 8.37 million tonnes yet to be cleared. The Ghazipur site has also been vulnerable to fires during summer due to methane pockets. A poorly managed and oversaturated site, it is one of the tallest mounds in the country, and witnessed a section collapsing—causing 50 tonnes of waste to hurl down the mound and kill two persons.
In a spot check on Wednesday, HT found that a large part of the Okhla landfill was flattened, with 18 trommel machines and workers separating components of the last remnants of legacy waste and trucks carrying the inert material and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) components.
A municipal official at the site said 10,000 tonnes of legacy waste is being removed from the site every day.
“Okhla has been the fastest in waste removal progress. It will be the first landfill to be cleared and a part of it would be used to set up construction and demolition waste processing plant,” the official said.
Biomining of the three landfills started in 2019 on a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, which directed that legacy dumps be “cleared within one year but substantial progress must be made and demonstrated within six months”. However, there have been multiple revisions and extensions of these deadlines.
When biomining was started at the Okhla landfill in 2019, it had six million tonnes of legacy waste, of which over 5.5 million tonnes have been removed so far, according to an MCD progress report.
However, the addition of 2.47 million tonnes of fresh waste has left the site with 2.9 million tonnes of legacy waste.
“The expected quantity of waste by January 2026 will be around 1.65 million tonnes. After incorporating the fresh waste dumping to the tune of 1000 tonnes per day for two to three months, the deadline for the complete flattening of site will be March 2027,” the senior official at the site said.
The official said poor management by the previous contractor, whose service was terminated last year, has delayed the flattening of the Ghazipur landfill.
The senior MCD official cited above said: “The contractors had internal disputes but we could not hire a new company due to delay of non-formation of the standing committee (in MCD) . In October 2024, the Delhi government empowered the commissioner to execute the contract for biomining of legacy waste. A new company has started working from March.”
At Bhalswa landfill, there were 8 million tonnes of waste at the onset of biomining and it currently has 4.7 million tonnes. The site is expected to be cleared by December 2027, officials said.
Bharati Chaturvedi, environmentalist and founder of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, said that Delhi has to undertake a three-pronged approach to waste management. “Delhi has to start with composting policy by investing in the capital cost for decentralised waste processing by RWAs and bulk waste generators. It should be paid for by the government and space must be provided.”
Chaturvedi said that decentralised subsidised composting and buy back mechanism needs to be set up. “This will reduce the waste by 50%. Waste pickers should be linked with material recovery facilities so that plastic and similar waste (10%) can be reduced. Around 20% is being recycled and it will help reduce waste being dumped at landfills. It needs a robust policy with closed loop market systems,” he said.
