MCD calls bids for Phase-2 of biomining at Delhi’s three landfills

Three million tonnes (MT) of legacy waste is to be cleared at Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfills, each, and two MT of waste at the Okhla landfill

New Delhi

Biomining through trommel machines underway at the Ghazipur landfill site. (HT Archive)

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has initiated the process for launching the second phase of biomining legacy waste at landfill sites in Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla, officials aware of the matter said, citing the end of contract periods for the current operators.

According to officials, three million tonnes (MT) of legacy waste is to be cleared at Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfills, each, and two MT of waste at the Okhla landfill.

The process of biomining legacy waste started in 2019 on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which directed that the sites be “cleared within one year” and “substantial progress must be made and demonstrated within six months”. There have been multiple revisions and extensions of these deadlines since.

The three erstwhile MCDs launched the biomining project in July 2019, to clear an estimated 28MT of legacy waste across the three landfill sites. This has currently come down to 16.039MT of garbage, a progress report submitted to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee in July said.

According to the MCD’s progress report, 14.2MT of waste has been processed so far, but the dumping of fresh waste continues to slow down the net progress. For instance, 8.85MT of garbage was removed between July 2022 and July 3, 2024, but 4.59 million tonnes of fresh waste was added in this period.

Currently, the MCD said the deadline for clearing the Okhla landfill is 2024, Bhalswa is 2025 and Ghazipur is 2026. “All these deadlines are subject to stoppage of incoming fresh waste and formation of statutory committee in MCD,” the report said.

With fresh bids being invited on July 15, this is the second such attempt by the MCD over the past year to hire new operators to increase the pace of the project. “Approval of the standing committee is necessary for a project with such massive financial implications. Last year, the first attempt was made and we had finalised the agencies but the entire process had to be withdrawn as there was no approving authority. We are starting the process once again to ensure that as soon as panel is in place, the approval can be granted. The bidding process alone takes two to three months,” an official, requesting anonymity, said.

Currently, there are 58 trommel machines operational at the three landfills — 22 at Bhalswa, 25 at Ghazipur and 11 at Okhla. The trommeling and biomining of mixed legacy waste lead to the separation of various components like inert materials and construction waste — boulders, fractions of soil, organic matter, and combustibles — plastic and clothes, among others. The mixed legacy waste is passed through trommel machines, which act as cylindrical rotating sieves.

“The performance of the private operator at Ghazipur has been the slowest, as it faces several internal issues in the joint venture company. Bhalswa contractor has been relatively better. As soon as new operators are in place, existing ones will cease operations,” the official cited above said.

A second MCD official said that operators are working on an extension period as their contracts expired in May. “All of the three existing operators were allotted work to clear 3 million tonnes of waste each. The performance of Bhalswa operator was satisfactory so and extension up to August was granted to clear additional waste. After August, there will be no operator in Bhalswa. The time period for Okhla and Ghazipur has also expired and they (operators) are working on provisional extension as they have not cleared required waste. We will impose penalties on them while closing their operations,” the official said.

At the root of the project being mired in procedural delays is the non-formation of the 18-member standing committee of the MCD, which controls the purse strings of the MCD. Its formation has remained stuck over the past year due to political and legal tussles over the appointment of the nominated members of the corporation, or “aldermen”. On May 17, 2023, the Supreme Court reserved judgment on the question of whether the lieutenant governor of Delhi has the authority to nominate aldermen to the MCD without the aid and advice of the Delhi government.