LG inspects Bhalswa, directs MCD to upgrade waste management

Delhi's LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu urged the MCD to address waste inflow at landfills, enhance bio-mining, and adopt global waste management technologies.

New Delhi: Lieutenant governor (LG) of Delhi, Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Monday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to address the continuous inflow of fresh and legacy waste into landfills, officials said.

The directions came while the LG was inspecting the ongoing bio-mining work at the Bhalswa landfill site (ANI)

The directions came while the LG was inspecting the ongoing bio-mining work at the Bhalswa landfill site.

Spread over 70 acres, the Bhalswa landfill had 7,300,000 metric tonnes (MT) of waste in November 2022. While 4,500,000 MT was bio-mined till December 2024, another 3,980,000 MT of fresh waste has been deposited on the site,about 4,000 tonnes per day. “Another 1,350,000 MT of legacy waste and 1,400,000 MT of fresh waste accumulated from March, 2025 till date needs to bio-mined,” an official said.

To be sure, biomining is the process of separating various components of legacy waste such as plastic, paper, cloth, sand, and bricks by passing them through trommel machines, which act as cylindrical rotating sieves. The biomining project was started on the orders of National Green Tribunal (NGT) dated July 17, 2019 whereby all three erstwhile civic bodies were directed to start the bio-mining and bio-remediation of old dump waste sites to reclaim the land within one year with substantial progress within six months.

After reviewing a presentation by the MCD, the LG observed that a lot of issues needed to be addressed at the three dumpsites, at Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla. He told the MCD to explore latest and emerging global technologies in waste management and accelerate outcomes by adopting international benchmarks.

According to officials, he also called upon the MCD to involve RWAs and MTAs across Delhi to ensure segregation of waste at source into dry and wet categories, enabling faster bio-remediation.

Sandhu directed MCD to take all preventive measures to avoid fire incidents at the dump sites, especially with the onset of summers. He interacted with workers on-site to understand their concerns and directed that all necessary health safeguards are in place.