New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) The Delhi Development Authority on Wednesday approved change of land use of a 10-acre plot at Ghazipur for waste processing, paving the way for a facility that will process at least 800 tonnes of fresh waste daily and include a biogas plant.
The land, secured by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi from the DDA near the Integrated Freight Complex (IFC), Ghazipur, will be used for a fresh-waste processing facility as part of the civic body’s plan to divert newly generated waste from the city’s three major landfill sites — Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Lt Governor and DDA Chairman Taranjit Singh Sandhu, which also approved the Master Plan for Delhi-2047 (MPD-2047) for planned growth of the city.
Officials said that the DDA approved changing the land use in Ghazipur from “Commercial (Freight Complex)” to “Utility” for a waste-to-energy (WtE) plant, adding that the construction of the facility is aimed at improving the air, water and overall environment and contributing to a cleaner and greener Delhi.
Of the 10 acres secured by the MCD, five acres will be used for the fresh-waste processing facility and the remaining five acres for a biogas plant, officials from the MCD had earlier said.
“While the fresh waste processing plant will be set up on five of the 10 acres, on the remaining five acres we will set up a biogas plant. The two facilities would contribute towards reducing the burden on the Ghazipur landfill by diverting fresh municipal waste,” an official said.
The fresh-waste processing facility will have a capacity of at least 800 tonnes per day.
The Ghazipur project is part of a larger plan under which five facilities are scheduled to be set up across Delhi by October-end, with a combined capacity to process up to 5,900 tonnes of fresh waste every day.
At Bhalswa, a facility with a capacity of 1,800 tonnes per day will be established on a 12-acre reclaimed landfill site.
Another plant, with a capacity of 700 tonnes per day, is planned on a 6.6-acre silt disposal site at Singhola. At the Okhla landfill, 10 acres of reclaimed land will be used for a facility capable of processing 1,400 tonnes of fresh waste daily.
At Narela-Bawana, around 10 acres from a 35-acre parcel have been earmarked for a unit with a processing capacity of 1,200 tonnes per day.
“We have completed the tendering process and issued a work order. These projects will contribute to the time-bound flattening of landfills, as the dumping of fresh waste can be stopped,” the official said.
The MCD’s move comes against the backdrop of Delhi generating around 12,847 tonnes of municipal waste every day.
At present, approximately 7,642 tonnes of waste per day is processed at the city’s four existing waste-to-energy plants, leaving a substantial quantity of daily waste requiring disposal or further processing.
Officials said the new facilities are particularly important because the nature of fresh municipal waste is different from the legacy waste lying at Delhi’s landfill sites.
Legacy waste accumulated over several years is largely dry and contains around 60 per cent inert material, making it suitable for processing through existing trommel machines, they said.
“However, daily household waste is mostly wet and mixed, making it unsuitable for bio-mining through existing trommels,” the official said.
To deal with this gap, the MCD plans to install large-capacity trommel units designed to process wet waste.
The civic body is seeking to divert fresh waste before it reaches the landfill sites so that the existing dumps can be flattened in a time-bound manner instead of continuing to receive new waste.
The DDA also approved a separate change of land use of 752.51 square metres (900 square yards) at Pocket-B, IFC, Ghazipur, from “Public and Semi-Public (PS-1)” to “Recreational (Community Park/Park/Multipurpose/GR)” for compensatory green cover in lieu of the land parcel being used for the project.
The MPD-2047, which will guide the future growth and development of the national capital, will now be sent to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for final approval and subsequent notification, the DDA said. PTI MSJ MSJ NB NB
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