MCD to set up new facilities at Singhola, Bhalswa to bridge 4,000-tonne waste processing gap

New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has identified new sites in Singhola and Bhalswa to process around 4,000 tonnes of daily waste that currently goes unprocessed, in a bid to prevent fresh garbage being added to Delhi’s three legacy landfills, Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa, officials said on Friday.

Delhi generates around 12,000 metric tonnes (MT) of solid waste daily, of which about 8,000 MT is processed through the existing facilities.

The remaining 4,000 MT of unprocessed waste continues to accumulate at the landfill sites, officials said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) plans to float tenders in the coming days to bridge the processing gap of about 4,242 tonnes per day, accounting for nearly 37 per cent of the capital's total municipal solid waste.

"If we continue to dump waste at the existing landfills, clearing the old legacy waste will become nearly impossible. Hence, our focus is now on processing the new waste separately,” a senior MCD official told PTI.

To finalise the waste processing model, MCD teams recently visited Karnal and Lucknow to study their waste management systems.

Based on the learnings from the visits, the MCD plans to set up waste processing units at three locations -- Singhola, Bhalswa and Okhla.

Another senior MCD official said around three acres of land has been identified in Singhola and five acres in Bhalswa for processing fresh waste.

In Okhla, the corporation is in the process of identifying suitable land for the facility.

“Delhi generates around 12,000 tonnes of garbage every day, and there is a gap of about 4,000 tonnes in the daily waste processing capacity. If fresh waste continues to get added to the existing landfills, it will become impossible to clear the old legacy waste. Therefore, these new sites will ensure that fresh garbage is processed simultaneously,” the official said.

The initiative is part of the MCD's broader environmental improvement plan, aimed at eradicating legacy waste and preventing further accumulation.

The civic body has been striving to achieve this plan.

The Delhi government has set targets to clear all three landfill sites -- March 2027 for Okhla, December 2027 for Bhalswa, and September 2028 for Ghazipur.

On October 9, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the “garbage mountains” in Delhi would be transformed into beautiful gardens by January 1, 2028, alleging that the previous AAP government failed to manage the capital's waste, allowing the landfill heights to reach up to 65 metres.

The bio-remediation process being used involves segregating waste into recyclables, soil, inert material, and refuse-derived fuel (RDF), MCD officials said. PTI NSM SMV ARI