The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to disclose the quantity of waste currently at Singhola dump site.
The hearing was part of NGT’s suo motu cognisance of an HT report “New waste mounds creep up on capital” published on November 4, 2024, which highlighted two new waste mounds emerging at Singhola and Narela, despite the city’s landfill remediation efforts.
During a hearing on August 5, MCD filed a status report dated April 20, 2026, regarding the integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) processing facility in Narela-Bawana. The report mentioned that the unit was being operated under a concession agreement, while an engineered sanitary landfill has been developed over 34.25 acres at the same site. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has also granted consent to operate the facility, valid until June 15, 2029, the report read.
“MCD informed the tribunal that no untreated municipal solid waste is presently lying at the Narela-Bawana site, and that the accumulated material consists only Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). Out of approximately 34,313 metric tonnes (MT) of legacy RDF retrieved from the landfill, 9,654.5 MT had been disposed of by March 2026, while the remaining material is undergoing processing and phased disposal,” the NGT said in a statement.
During the hearing, MCD also informed NGT that the contract for establishing a daily silt- processing facility at the Singhola site had been awarded and operations are expected to start from November this year. “However, the tribunal noted that MCD’s affidavit did not disclose the quantity of waste/RDF currently accumulated at the Singhola site. Taking note of this omission, the bench directed the MCD to file a fresh affidavit specifying the quantity of waste at Singhola and to submit an updated progress report at least once week before the next hearing,” the NGT’s statement read.
{{/usCountry}}During the hearing, MCD also informed NGT that the contract for establishing a daily silt- processing facility at the Singhola site had been awarded and operations are expected to start from November this year. “However, the tribunal noted that MCD’s affidavit did not disclose the quantity of waste/RDF currently accumulated at the Singhola site. Taking note of this omission, the bench directed the MCD to file a fresh affidavit specifying the quantity of waste at Singhola and to submit an updated progress report at least once week before the next hearing,” the NGT’s statement read.
{{/usCountry}}The next hearing in the case is on October 14 this year.
The 7.2-acre Singhola site was designated as a temporary dumping ground for drain silt after a section of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed in 2017.
By July 2022, around 900,000 metric tonnes of silt had accumulated at Singhola. The waste was dumped primarily by MCD’s Shahdara North and Shahdara South zones, while the public works department and the irrigation and flood control department also used the site.
Although MCD completed bio-mining and cleared the accumulated silt last year, dumping resumed soon afterwards. HT had reported on August 5 that MCD resumed dumping drain silt at the Singhola site despite clearing it, owing “to the urgency of pre-monsoon desilting operations”. The civic body said it is now setting up a silt processing facility nearby to prevent the formation of another waste mound in the region.
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