Delhi minister Sood visits Bhalswa, says govt working on war footing to clear garbage mountains

Delhi Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood on Friday reviewed the progress of bio-mining work at the Bhalswa landfill site, and said around 43 acres of land have been reclaimed so far, while the entire dumpsite is targeted to be cleared by December 2026.

Inspecting the remediation work at the site, Sood said the Delhi government is committed to making the capital clean, green and pollution-free, for which it is accelerating scientific processing of legacy waste at the landfill sites across the city.

''Under the leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, eliminating landfill sites remains one of the government's top priorities. The bio-mining operations at the three major dumping sites have picked up pace in recent months,'' Sood said.

According to the minister, the number of machines and other resources deployed at the Bhalswa site has also been increased to expedite waste processing.

Sood said a record 74 lakh tonnes of waste were processed across Delhi's three landfill sites during 2025-26. The Bhalswa and Okhla landfill sites have been targeted for complete remediation this year, while work at the Ghazipur site is also being accelerated after additional land became available, he said.

Calling the landfill sites a ''blot'' on the city, the minister said the government is working on a ''war footing'' to free Delhi from garbage mountains.

Sood added that the authorities have suggested carrying out longer work shifts during the night in periods of extreme heat instead of daytime operations.

Work at the landfill sites becomes risky during the monsoon season, and, therefore, efforts are being made to complete as much processing work as possible before the rains, he said.

According to drone surveys conducted in June 2022, around 73 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste were present at the Bhalswa site. Following this, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched the first phase of the integrated bio-mining project under the Swachh Bharat Mission in November 2022 for processing 30 lakh metric tonnes of waste, extendable up to 45 lakh metric tonnes.

The second phase, aimed at processing another 30 lakh metric tonnes of waste, began in December 2024.

Sood said the average bio-mining capacity at the Bhalswa dumpsite has increased from around 8,000 tonnes per day to nearly 15,000 tonnes per day.

Around 255.03 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste have so far been processed through bio-mining at the Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfill sites, leading to the reclamation of nearly 75 acres of land for reuse, he said.

Comparing the pace of work over the years, the minister claimed only 21.9 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste were processed during 2022-23, whereas 74.11 lakh metric tonnes were processed during 2025-26 alone.

Similarly, he said, the processing capacity, which stood at nearly 6,000 metric tonnes per day in 2022-23, has now risen to about 20,000 metric tonnes per day during 2025-26.

According to the minister, the number of trommel machines deployed across all three landfill sites has increased to 70, which are now operating in double shifts.

''From July 2022 to May 17, 2026, around 44.21 lakh metric tonnes of fresh municipal solid waste, silt and debris were dumped at the Bhalswa site, while nearly 96.10 lakh metric tonnes of waste have been processed through bio-mining,'' Sood said.

At present, around 21.11 lakh metric tonnes of waste remain at the site, the minister added.

Sood also claimed that the height of the Bhalswa garbage mound has reduced by nearly 30 to 40 metres in different sections of the site.

Of the 43 acres of reclaimed land, bamboo plantations have been carried out on around five acres, while a modern fresh waste processing facility is being developed on nearly 12 acres, he said.

The minister said 24 trommel machines equipped with air density separators, each having a capacity of 400 tonnes per day, are currently operational at the site.

Besides, 45 mobile excavators, seven bulldozers, 450 to 500 workers and two weigh bridges have been deployed for scientific processing of waste at the landfill, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)