New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Aiming complete reclamation of the capital’s three major landfill sites — Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhla — the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has ramped up operations by adding two additional trommels at each dumpsite, an official said on Friday.
As part of its ongoing biomining operations, the civic body of Delhi (MCD) noted that a massive extraction of legacy waste occurred over three years, from July 2022 to July 9, 2025.
The civic body is targeting complete reclamation of the Bhalswa site by December 2026, the Ghazipur site by December 2027, and the Okhla site by July 2026, in line with directives issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to clear all legacy waste dumps in Delhi.
This information was presented to Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta last week.
To meet these deadlines, the MCD ramped up operations in June 2025 by adding two additional trommels at each dumpsite, thereby increasing the waste processing capacity on the ground.
The presentation also stated that tenders are in process for the remaining “balanced quantity” of waste, indicating an urgent push to complete the task within the set timeline.
MCD officials said that progress under the second phase of integrated biomining has picked up pace since May 2025, with monthly performance monitoring currently underway.
The civic body highlighted that previous infrastructure investments and a recent drop in Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) transportation costs — thanks to new arrangements with paper mills in Muzaffarnagar — have significantly reduced the per-tonne operational expenditure of biomining.
Looking ahead, the MCD is preparing to utilise the reclaimed land based on a model suggested by the NGT in its order dated February 16, 2023.
The NGT has advised that one-third of each dumpsite be converted into dense forest, another third into integrated waste management infrastructure, and the remaining portion be used for monetisation or other civic purposes.
The civic body’s presentation stated that areas at Ghazipur, Okhla, and Bhalswa are now being earmarked for compensatory plantation and afforestation, with bamboo plantations already underway at the Okhla and Bhalswa landfill sites.
The presentation also outlined the MCD’s broader solid waste management strategy, which includes setting up two new waste-to-energy (WTE) plants and expanding the existing ones, as per the work plan submitted on May 9, 2025.
Additionally, the Corporation is moving forward with biomethanation-based plants to treat dairy waste. PTI NSM NSM ANM MPL MPL
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