Biomining done: MCD flattens Singhola silt mound

MCD has completed biomining at Singhola, clearing 800,000 tonnes of waste and reclaiming 7.2 acres for controlled silt disposal, aiding sustainable waste management.

In a major step toward sustainable waste management, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has successfully completed the biomining of the Singhola silt dumping site along GT Karnal Road, flattening a mound of nearly 800,000 tonnes of waste and freeing up 7.2 acres of land.

The flattened site (above) is now set to be reused for controlled silt disposal, said MCD officials. (HT Photo)

Senior municipal officials said the Singhola site, located near Khampur village, marks the fourth major biomining project undertaken by the corporation after the legacy waste sites at Bhalswa, Okhla, and Ghazipur. Unlike the massive landfill mounds at those locations, Singhola was a smaller but critical site that had become saturated due to the dumping of years of desilting waste from the Capital’s drains.

“This site was allotted to the MCD in 2018 by DDA for dumping silt from east and north Delhi. Subsequently, additional agencies, including PWD and the I & FC, began utilising the site to deposit silt collected during their yearly pre-monsoon drainage cleaning operations. As a result, within five years of the allotment of this site, the land at Khampur village in Singhola ran out of capacity,” said an MCD official.

In 2023, MCD proposed a ₹79 crore project to flatten the mound and re-purpose the land. An internal MCD report from October that year stated the Singhola site faces “space constraint as no area is left for further disposal” of silt at this site.

“The vertical level at the site cannot be raised further... Further dumping may cause the risk of sliding/slipping of silt towards adjoining areas. Hence there is an urgent need to reduce the load of silt and create space for dumping of silt and create more space for dumping further at this site,” the report said.

The flattened site is now set to be reused for controlled silt disposal. “The area is a valuable asset for Delhi’s waste management network. While it will continue to be used for silt, we will ensure it doesn’t again reach an oversaturated state,” the official added.

The move will also ease pressure on Bhalswa and Ghazipur, where silt from across the city was being sent, delaying biomining efforts there.

In November 2024, HT had reported on the waste mound at Singhola and its spillover effects on the city’s peripheries. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took suo motu cognisance of the report and directed urgent flattening of the site. In March this year, MCD assured the tribunal it would complete the project by August.

With Singhola now cleared, officials said efforts will shift to turning the Bawana site into a green area—part of a broader push to reclaim waste-stressed land across the Capital.