Delhi government is targeting the removal of 50 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of garbage from Bhalswa landfill by March next year, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Officials informed the CM that against an initial target to remove 6,500 MT of waste per day, 12,000 MT would be cleared daily. The CM, along with mayor Shelly Oberoi, reviewed the progress of work at the landfill, including the process of biomining and bioremediation of legacy waste. After taking note of the timelines of garbage processing operations, he walked up to the landfill to review the ground situation of the mounds. The 28-year-old site Bhalswa landfill is spread across 70 acres. Its initial height was 65 metres from ground level. A 2019 survey revealed 80 lakh MT of legacy waste. Since then, 4 lakh MT of fresh waste has been dumped while 30.4 lakh MT has been biomined. “It was after the 2019 order of NGT that work began to remove waste from the site. At that time, there was 80 lakh MT. From 2019 till now, 30 lakh MT has been removed. Currently, the site holds 50 lakh MT of waste,” Kejriwal said.
Nearly 11,000 MT of waste is generated every single day in the city. “Of this, about 8,100 MT is cleared on a daily basis through waste-to-energy and other modes of segregation. So there is a deficit of about 2,800 MT every day,” Kejriwal said. The CM also urged residents to try and segregate garbage at the source.
