Green tribunal seeks report on illegal waste mountains on Delhi outskirts

The MCD said that after a portion of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed in 2017, a 7.2 acre site was temporarily allotted in April 2018 for a period of two years in Singhola village to divert and deposit drain silt

New Delhi

The waste dump at Singhola. (HT Archive)

Taking note of illegal waste mountains at Singhola and Bawana on the outskirts of Delhi, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) four weeks to submit action taken to deal with the same.

The NGT took cognisance of the issue in November 2024, based on a report published in these columns titled “New waste mountains creep up on capital”, which detailed how two new waste mounds had cropped up in the capital. One of them is located near the Narela-Bawana waste-to-energy (WtE) plant, and the other—a large accumulation of silt and mixed waste—has cropped up on a seven-acre plot in Singhola.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel took note of the submission made by the MCD on October 13, which said the sanitary landfill facility (SLF) at Bawana has an existing volume of 2.68 million cubic metres—which exceeds the approved capacity of 2.268 million cubic metres mentioned in DPCC’s consent order.

“MCD is diligently pursuing the matter with the concessionaire, seeking an action plan for the disposal of this waste dumped at the SLF and for reducing the height of the landfill, if found to exceed the permissible limits, in compliance with the prescribed provisions regarding slope, base area, and top area...” the submission had said, flagging similar problems at Singhola.

The MCD said that after a portion of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed in 2017, a 7.2 acre site was temporarily allotted in April 2018 for a period of two years in Singhola village to divert and deposit drain silt. However, the same did not stop and by July 2022, around 900,000 metric tonnes (MT) of silt had accumulated.

MCD said biomining started in November 2024 and the entire silt was removed in May 2025. However, dumping resumed in July 2025, the affidavit said.

The NGT bench, while listing the matter for January 15, 2026, called upon the DPCC to take suitable action. “The report reveals violation of environmental norms therefore, the DPCC is required to disclose the action which has been taken..” Shrivasta said in the order dated October 16.

“MCD is also directed to file their progress report within four weeks…” the order added.