Bhalswa landfill clearance deadline extended for sixth time, now set for February 2027

Bhalswa landfill clearance deadline extended for sixth time, now set for February 2027

New Delhi, The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has extended the Bhalswa landfill clearance deadline for the sixth time, pushing it to February 2027 as over 10 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste remain to be cleared from the site, officials said on Saturday.

Bhalswa landfill clearance deadline extended for sixth time, now set for February 2027

The civic body has submitted a revised action plan to the Delhi government, pushing Bhalswa's deadline from December 2026 to February 2027, retaining December 2026 as the deadline for Okhla and December 2027 for Ghazipur, they said.

The delay is linked to the change of contractor responsible for processing and removing legacy waste from the Bhalswa landfill, officials said.

"There has been a delay of two months due to logistical issues as the contract is being transferred to another contractor," an official said.

He added that the previous contractor had been assigned the task of removing around 30 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste from the site. The MCD floated a fresh tender, following which another agency took over the work at revised rates, leading to the delay, officials said.

At Okhla, 7.27 lakh metric tonnes remain after 72.53 lakh metric tonnes were processed. The site is targeted for clearance by December this year.

Ghazipur has 63.43 lakh metric tonnes of waste yet to be processed, while 45.80 lakh metric tonnes have been cleared. Its deadline remains December 2027.

The latest extension follows several revisions to the landfill clearance timeline. Earlier targets reported for Bhalswa included June 2022, 23, 24 and 2025, before the deadline was set at December 2026.

The remediation of the three landfill sites began in 2019 following directions from the National Green Tribunal to process the accumulated waste. The exercise involves excavating legacy waste and separating soil-like inert material from recyclable components through biomining.

The MCD is also grappling with the continued arrival of fresh garbage at the sites. Around 5,858 tonnes of fresh waste are reaching the landfill sites every day, according to the civic body's figures.

The MCD has prepared a separate action plan to process fresh waste, which is expected to be implemented by mid-November.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.