New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday visited the city’s three landfill sites and took stock of the ongoing waste remediation and disposal works at the dump yards, officials said.
The three sites are located at Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has set a target of May 2024 for bio-remediation of all the legacy waste at the three sites.
Saxena issued instructions for the targets to be met expeditiously. He was informed that the target for the Okhla site will be achieved by the end of June and that for the Ghazipur yard within the next three months, the officials said.
“Following the constitution of the high-level committee by the National Green Tribunal on February 16 for management of municipal solid waste in the capital, the Lt Governor today visited all three landfill sites and took stock of the progress of the ongoing waste remediation and disposal works that were initiated after his last visit to the three sites on March 23,” a senior official said.
Saxena expressed satisfaction over the pace of work on bio-remediation and disposal of solid waste from the three dumping sites.
Bio-remediation is the use of biological processes or activity of organisms — mainly bacteria and fungi — to transform contaminants into inert substances.
“The average remediation/disposal, which stood at 1.41 lakh MT per month in May 2022, rose to 6 lakh MT per month by October 2022. Ever since the new concessionaires were engaged in November 2022, the pace picked up further. As of now, the numbers being achieved will ensure remediation at 30,000 MT per day and 9 lakh MT per month very soon,” the official said.
Saxena was accompanied by the chief secretary, municipal commissioner and other senior MCD officials during the inspection. He also visited the Bhalswa Lake during his tour.
The green tribunal, in its order in connection with the matter of “Compliance of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and other Environmental Issues”, constituted the Solid Waste Monitoring Committee headed by the Delhi Lt Governor on the lines of a similar high-level committee for the rejuvenation of the Yamuna.
Working in this direction, a series of meetings were held, an Action Plan for Solid Waste Management in Delhi was prepared and an order dated April 6 issued by the chief secretary, the officials said.
Civic officials apprised Saxena about the efforts put in by the MCD in processing legacy waste at the three sites.
When Saxena took over as Delhi Lt Governor, the total legacy waste at the three sites was 229.1 lakh MT in June 2022. It now stands at 154.9 lakh MT, down by 74.2 lakh MT (or 32.38 per cent) within a year, the officials claimed.
At present, 80 trommeling machines with enhanced capacity are segregating waste at the three landfill sites, up from 12 in June 2022, and five additional machines are expected to be added by June 30, they said.
At the Okhla site, a first-of-its-kind trommeling machine that converts 1,500 MT per day of construction and demolition waste into inert substance has been installed. For the purpose of real-time monitoring of bio-remediation of waste and its disposal, control and command centres have been set up at the landfill sites and transport trucks have been fitted with GPS-enabled mechanisms, the officials said.
Saxena ordered daily monitoring of bio-remediation process at all the three landfill sites. PTI KND SZM
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