Delhi CM visits Ghazipur garbage dump, lashes out at civic body

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday lashed out at municipal authorities over towering mountains of garbage that scar the city and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled bodies of failing to clean up the Capital, indicating that the festering garbage problem will be a key electoral issue in the upcoming civic polls

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday lashed out at municipal authorities over towering mountains of garbage that scar the city and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled bodies of failing to clean up the Capital, indicating that the festering garbage problem will be a key electoral issue in the upcoming civic polls.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal along with deputy CM Manish Sisodia at the Ghazipur landfill on Thursday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Speaking at the foot of the Ghazipur landfill site, Kejriwal also promised that if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the next civic polls, it will clean up the city in five years.

“People living several kilometres around these mountains have to suffer due to the stench. The situation is similar in every nook and corner of the city; there is garbage everywhere. Over the last 15 years, this is the BJP’s real achievement,” said Kejriwal, flanked by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other AAP legislators.

The BJP, in response, accused Kejriwal of making baseless allegations to divert attention from its “poor record” of controlling air and water pollution in Delhi. Spokespersons from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Kejriwal also countered Union home minister Amit Shah’s allegations – made during inaugurating a waste-to-energy plant in Tughlaqabad last week -- that the Delhi government was withholding ₹40,000 crore from the civic body. Kejriwal said the civic body spent ₹2 lakh crore in 15 years. Of this, he said, ₹1 lakh crore came from the Delhi government. “Whose money was it?...They should give us an account of those funds first,” he said.

The dispute over funds allocation for the MCDs stems from the unique constitutional position of Delhi which is a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2012 and the flow of grants from the Centre to the Delhi government.

While the Delhi government consistently claims that it had paid all dues to the erstwhile three BJP-ruled MCDs, the municipal functionaries have held protests and dharnas blaming the AAP dispensation for owning corporation owes thousands of crores to the civic bodies.

“Shah abused me and alleged that the Delhi government did not give money to MCD but I want to ask him how much they have given to the civic bodies since the BJP formed government at the Centre,” he said.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said Kejriwal was trying to divert attention. “He should tell people what he has done to clean landfill sites, Yamuna, or the city’s air. If everything has to be done by courts and NGT, then what is the Delhi government’s role,” he asked.

Elections to the newly constituted Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are likely to be held later this year or early next year.The delimitation process for the exercise is already complete and notified. The AAP is looking to wrest power from the BJP after 15 years has focused on management of sanitation, waste and cleanliness as key issues. The BJP, which controlled all three of the erstwhile civic bodies in Delhi, has stressed its record on advancements made in processing garbage.

A particularly fractious issue is that of garbage.

The Capital generates around 11,000 tonnes of garbage every day, over 40% of which is dumped at overflowing landfill sites in Ghazipur (the biggest of the three), Bhalswa and Okhla. Deadlines set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the civic body to flatten the three waste mountains, which pose several health risks such as nausea, eye irritation and are major eyesores, have been extended and missed multiple times.Delhi has constantly fared poorly on annual sanitation rankings.The low levels of waste segregation in households remains a major concern as well.

During his visit to Ghazipur, Kejriwal said the BJP’s “misgovernance” was at fault for the rise of the landfills. “In cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, you visit tourist places and enjoy the clean environment. But in the case of our city, people have to bear these garbage mountains. BJP has shamed us. They have provided nothing but garbage in these last 15 years,” he added.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor pointed out that NGT earlier this month fined the state government ₹900 crore for failing to remediate and manage its municipal solid waste at the three landfills. QUOTE

The CM’s visit was preceded by a protest by BJP supporters and a counter demonstration by AAP members, which culminated in a tussle between the two groups. Even as the police attempted to keep the two groups apart, the row led to a snarl on the NH-24.

Referring to the protests, the CM said the BJP was “ashamed” of its work.

“While I was trying to come to this site, BJP workers tried to stop me by protesting. We will not protest if BJP leaders come to see our schools and hospitals, then why are you ashamed to showcase your work?” he added. He implored BJP supporters to vote for the AAP in the civic elections.

“All they do is abuse me. They are only concerned about money. We have to win hearts. I am a magician and I know how to win hearts. We will work through the happiness and sorrows of the people and will win their hearts. The Congress has been reduced to zero in Delhi and soon there a day will come when BJP will become zero too. In future all BJP supporters will come to join the AAP,” he said.

Kejriwal also reiterated his party’s allegation that BJP plans to create 16 more landfill sites -- a charge that the MCD and BJP have denied.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused him of spreading falsehoods.

“Either they should prove the allegation that MCD is proposing to build 16 new landfill sites in Delhi or apologise to the people of Delhi,” he said.

The AAP and BJP have clashed on the issue of sanitation before.

On October 20, Shah accused the AAP of “second-class behaviour” towards the municipal corporation by withholding funds worth ₹40,000 crore to render it dysfunctional. “They were unified because you (Kejriwal) stopped funds of ₹40,000 crore by meting out second-class behaviour. Was it not the Delhi government’s responsibility to provide these funds,” Shah said.

At the landfill, Sisodia said, “BJP’s only achievement over the last 15 years is to crush Delhi under three large landfill sites. They have filled Delhi with garbage. People’s lives have been turned into hell due to insanitation and diseases.”

Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary said that neither the AAP nor BJP have solutions to Delhi’s problems.

Commenting on Delhi’s poor performance on sanitation parameters, Siddharth Singh, programme manager of Environmental Governance and Solid Waste Management at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “Besides some pockets where source segregation of waste is taking place, it has not been adopted at wider level. Segregation is mostly done by informal sector and even the door-to-door collection is not up to the mark. Half of the 11,500 tons of waste Delhi generates ends up in dumpsites. Delhi needs to work on its basics. Burning waste in waste to energy plants and sending it to dumpsites is not waste processing,” Singh said.

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