Delhi’s effort to clear its three major landfill sites has suffered another delay, with the deadline for removing legacy waste from the Okhla site extended by two months and the Bhalswa site by six months. The deadline for Ghazipur remains December 2027, according to officials cited in a report by Live Hindustan – NCR.
The three landfill sites are located near densely inhabited areas, where residents have repeatedly complained about fires, toxic gases and air pollution linked to the waste mounds. The repeated extensions have kept the sites at the centre of Delhi’s waste-management challenge, even as civic agencies continue to remove old waste and expand processing capacity.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi had earlier set targets to clear the waste mountains at Okhla and Bhalswa by the end of this year, while Ghazipur was given a December 2027 deadline. The latest revision pushes the target for Bhalswa further by six months and that for Okhla by two months. The report said the deadlines have been revised several times over the past six to eight years.
Officials said more than 220 lakh metric tonnes of old waste and legacy waste have been removed from the three sites so far. When the civic administration began biomining operations in 2019, the sites together held about 280 lakh metric tonnes of waste. Bhalswa accounted for 80 lakh metric tonnes, Ghazipur 140 lakh metric tonnes and Okhla 60 lakh metric tonnes.
After the biomining work, officials estimate that about 10 lakh metric tonnes of waste remain at Bhalswa, 61 lakh metric tonnes at Ghazipur and seven lakh metric tonnes at Okhla. The landfill sites were established in different periods: Ghazipur in 1984, Bhalswa in 1994 and Okhla in 1996.
Mayor Pravesh Wahi said separate agencies had been assigned responsibility for reducing legacy waste and processing newly generated waste. According to the mayor, the remaining legacy waste at Bhalswa is expected to be cleared within six months, while work at Okhla is expected to finish in two to three months. Ghazipur’s target remains December 2027. The civic administration is also increasing processing capacity and installing new machines at the sites.
The report said around 217.17 lakh metric tonnes of waste had been processed from the three landfill sites over the previous one-and-a-half years. This work has reportedly freed about 100 acres of land, where the civic administration plans to develop projects including dog shelters.
The corporation has also begun work on waste-processing facilities with a combined capacity of 5,900 metric tonnes per day at five locations. Plans are being prepared for facilities with a further capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per day at four locations. Four new waste-to-energy plants are proposed at Ghazipur, Narela, Okhla and Tekhand, while the civic administration is working to convert Delhi colonies into zero-waste areas.
Standing Committee chairperson Satya Sharma said the civic body’s objective was to eliminate the waste mountains and process or recycle newly generated waste on the same day. The revised deadlines and proposed facilities will determine whether the city can reduce its legacy waste without allowing fresh waste to accumulate at the same sites.
