Garbage headache for city’s civic bodies

Delhi’s municipal corporations appear to be in the grip of a crisis on account of a pre-festive spurt in the amount of garbage in the city at a time sanitary landfill sites are reportedly full to the brim.

Delhi’s municipal corporations appear to be in the grip of a crisis on account of a pre-festive spurt in the amount of garbage in the city at a time sanitary landfill sites are reportedly full to the brim.

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The garbage in the city has increased by around 1,000 metric tonnes a day, sources said. Apart from a waste-to-energy plant in Okhla, the city lacks any arrangement to disposing of the garbage.

For now, the civic bodies are dumping the garbage at the already-full landfill sites at Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur that may have to be shut down soon.

Areas in north and south Delhi that usually generate around 6,500 metric tonnes of waste daily are adding about 500 metric tonnes more owing to a sanitation drive before Diwali.

“During the festival season, residents shop a lot. This leads to a lot of garbage but there is no space to create more landfill sites,” said Mahender Nagpal, leader of the House, North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) commissioner SS Yadav has asked officials to look for a site in Shahdara (North) for a waste-management plant.

The EDMC in the past few months had intensified its efforts aimed at cleaning up its areas and increased the amount of garbage collected by 500 metric tonnes to 2,000 metric tonnes a day. The civic body has begun construction of a waste-management plant in Ghazipur, which is expected to become operational in a few months. The plant may be able to process only 1,200 metric tonnes of waste.

“There is a need for another waste-to-energy plant. We are working to identify a location,” an EDMC official said.