MCD initiates greening of reclaimed Okhla land with grasses

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started greening the reclaimed portion of the Okhla landfill by planting grasses to rehabilitate the area and reduce dust from the site, senior civic officials said

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started greening the reclaimed portion of the Okhla landfill by planting grasses to rehabilitate the area and reduce dust from the site, senior civic officials said.

A senior civic official said the Okhla landfill is likely to be the first legacy waste site to be cleared. (HT Archive)

A senior civic official said the Okhla landfill is likely to be the first legacy waste site to be cleared. The horticulture department has begun planting various types of grasses, including doob, vetiver and lemongrass. Flowering plants will be added in next phase.

Official said doob grass (Cynodon dactylon) is being used to cover the first patch of around 3.5 acre. “We are also experiment with Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides), also known as Khus and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) to see if they can survive in this soil. With monsoon season, grasses are likely to take hold of the top soil and reduce dust emanating from the area. Directions have been issued for planting marigold and bougainvillea,” official added.

A layer of sandy soil mixed with manure has been spread across the reclaimed land. “Doob grass adapts well in different soils,provided there is good drainage. It can also tolerate salinity and alkalinity. Lemongrass is more difficult to adapt here,” the official added.

A spot check by HT on Wednesday saw that large patches of grasses have already taken root, while biomining work continued in the remaining patches of the landfill.

Garbage dumping at the Okhla landfill site began in 1996. The site spans an area of 62 acres. By 2019, the height of the waste mound reached 60 meters.

The landfill biomining project has seen multiple deadlines being missed. According to the NGT order in 2019, a target was set to clear these landfill sites within one year. Subsequently, the deadline was extended to March 2023, followed by December 2024, then July 2026, and now to October 2026.

According to the June status report on biomining project, the civic body still had 9.97 million tonnes of garbage on the three landfill sites on June 8 with Okhla hosting 1.23 million tonnes, Bhalswa 1.84 million tonnes and Ghazipur at 6.89 million tonnes.