Solid waste management in Delhi calls for urgent action
As India witnesses rapid urbanisation, people are migrating from rural areas and smaller towns to bigger cities in search of better opportunities — putting an undue pressure on civic amenities in Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolitan cities.
According to a World Bank report, by 2036, Indian towns and cities will be home to 600 million people, or 40 per cent of the population, up from 31 per cent in 2011, with urban areas contributing almost 70 per cent to the GDP. The phenomenon poses several challenges, including that of municipal solid waste management.
The MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) are responsible for municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Delhi in their respective jurisdiction. However, bulk of the areas fall under the MCD and those under the NDMC and DCB are better managed.
In the area under NDMC, the daily generation of waste is around 280 tonnes per day (TPD) and the processing capacity is more than the waste generated with no legacy waste dumpsite. In the DCB area, the estimated quantity of MSW generated is 62 TPD and the entire quantity is transported to the waste-to-energy plant at Okhla.
However, MCD areas continue to be a problem. Against a daily MSW generation of 11,000 TPD, the processing capacity of the MCD is approximately 8,073 TPD, leaving around 3,800 TPD of fresh waste to be dumped at Ghazipur and Bhalswa dumpsites.
The MCD’s proposed waste processing facilities at Narela, Ghazipur, Okhla, Tehkand and Gogha Dairy were expected to increase its waste processing capacity from 8,073 TPD to 5,473 TPD capacity — which was more than 100 per cent — only by 2027, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recently told the Supreme Court.
There is also an issue of legacy waste. The total quantity of waste at three dumpsites is 280 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) — Ghazipur (40 LMT), Bhalaswa (80 LMT) and Okhla (60LMT). Of this, 131.54 LMT has been remediated till date. The tentative timeline for 100 per cent remediation of legacy waste is December 2025 for Bhalswa, December 2027 for Ghazipur and June 2025 for Okhla. The timeline is for existing legacy waste.
However, during the current period to the time by which fresh waste dumping will be stopped completely, some fresh waste will also be added at two dumpsites (Ghazipur and Bhalswa). The bio-mining of this waste would require another one to 1.5 years, the ministry said.
The existing mountains of solid waste in the national capital are a testimony to the failure of the Executive (Centre, NCT Government and MCD) in taking timely measures to implement the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
It has invited judicial intervention of the Supreme Court, which said, “If in the territory of NCT of Delhi, there is a complete failure to implement the 2016 rules, one can imagine what must be happening in the other cities in the other parts of the country.”
On February 24, it directed National Capital Region (NCR) states to prepare a comprehensive plan for waste management with timelines and implementing agencies. It emphasised that segregating waste at source was of “vital importance” for environment protection. “How can the cities become smart without compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules?" it wondered.
Noting that 100 per cent collection and segregation of solid waste was of “immense importance”, the top court on May 4 directed the Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to designate senior officers to supervise the process to achieve 100 per cent collection and segregation of solid waste.
Those manning the Executive branch of the state often complain about judicial overreach and encroachment into their domain.
Here is an example of their failure that has invited judicial intervention welcomed by the people. It’s high time the Executive pulled up its socks.
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