New landfill plans exist only on paper, rue civic bodies

The blame game between the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Municipal Corporations of Delhi continued on Saturday.

The north, south, and east corporations, which take care of the four landfill sites — Ghazipur, Bhalaswa, Okhla, and Narela-Bawana — stated that the spots identified for processing and dumping of city's 9,000 metric tonnes (MT) of waste in 2013 were still only on paper. The DDA then claimed that it has already allotted the land for the purpose but the corporations insisted that the sites were allotted just a month ago, and are still awaiting environment clearances.

The corporation officials said they had been demanding land since 2002, when the three major landfills had exhausted their capacity and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had imposed a ban on dumping garbage at these sites.

"The 150 acres of land that the DDA has provided us in Ghonda-Gurjar is situated on the Yamuna river bed. There are issues related to contamination of water there. The project is waiting for clearance from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It is not a feasible option for a landfill site. We are, however, still to present our case to the court," a senior east Corporation officer associated with the project said.

The north Corporation has two landfill sites — Bhalaswa, which has been exhausted, and Narela-Bawana, which is relatively new. The civic body was allotted four sites a fortnight ago, which are yet to be handed over.

"All these sites are small in size and can be used only to process waste. The problem has been lurking for a decade but we have got the land just now," a senior official said.

North Corporation Mayor Preety Agarwal has sought a status report from the municipal commissioner on the Bhalaswa landfill site. "The landfill site is a threat. It needs to be attended to immediately, so that a Ghazipur-like incident can be avoided," Agarwal said.

South Corporation Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat said the DDA allotted two pieces of land for a compost plant and a landfill site a month ago, but they will become functional only by year-end.

"We have 20 acres of land near Okhla at Tehkhand to dump waste while another 5 acres to process the waste. Besides, we have dug up a hilltop in the area to dump and process waste in the area. The two sites will be functional by year-end," Sehrawat said.

Also, a concrete and demolition plant to process rubble and debris in order to make bricks and pavement blocks will be coming up at Vikaspuri's Bakarwala, which can take care of nearly 1,100 metric tonnes of construction waste, she added.

In November last year, Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal had asked the DDA to allot land to corporations, as landfills were emitting toxic fumes and adding to air pollution.