NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is not happy with the performance of companies involved in waste processing at its landfill sites and has taken the retendering route to onboard replacements. It will complete the re-tendering process at Okhla and Bhalswa sites within the next one month, officials said on Monday.
According to the deadline set by the MCD, the Okhla landfill should be cleared by July 2026 and the Bhalswa landfill by December 2026.
An official, who requested anonymity, said that the output of the previous companies which were responsible for waste processing was not satisfactory and will be changed.
Currently, the tendering process is at the stage of technical evaluation, officials aware of the matter said.
According to a senior official, the MCD’s target is that approximately 12,000 metric tonnes of solid waste and 6,000 metric tons of construction and demolition waste are cleared completely. Additionally, he said, the legacy waste in Okhla, Bhalswa, and Ghazipur sites would also be cleared completely. The deadline for the Ghazipur site has been set for December 2027.
“As of now, we are targeting that the solid waste generated on a daily basis should be zero within the next 1.5 years, and that is why we are attempting to clear solid waste every day,” he said. He also said that the heaps of wastes were accumulating because till now the waste was just being dumped and not being processed. “We are working on the targets and thereby monitoring on a daily basis,” he added.
He added that in fresh waste, which includes plastic, paper, wood, iron, stones, bricks, etc., around 20–25 per cent is recyclable. “The rest of the solid waste is mixed with chemicals and, within 30–40 days, can be turned into compost,” he said.
Last month, MCD Standing Committee Chairperson Satya Sharma inspected the Ghazipur landfill and reviewed the progress of biomining and waste disposal work. The MCD said that biomining at this site was in the second phase.
The MCD plans to establish a new waste-to-energy (WTE) plant at the Ghazipur site. Officials have been asked to install additional machines to reduce the height of the garbage mound and use modern technology to accelerate the biomining process.
According to the MCD, around 11,500 metric tonnes of solid waste is generated daily in Delhi. Currently, the corporation operates four WTE plants with a combined processing capacity of 6,550 tonnes per day (TPD). They include the plants in Narela-Bawana (which has a processing capacity of 1,300 TPD), Okhla (1,550 TPD), Tehkhand (2,000 TPD), and Ghazipur (1,300 TPD).
However, despite these facilities, there is a gap of 4,712 TPD, which continues to be dumped at the Bhalswa, Okhla, and Ghazipur landfill sites. Since 2019, the MCD has been carrying out biomining of legacy waste at the these dumpsites and, till now, it has reclaimed 25 acres of land at Bhalswa, 10 acres at Okhla, and about 7.2 acres at Singhola.
Corporation to develop four plants to bridge gap
In order to bridge the gap in waste processing and prevent fresh dumping, the MCD has decided to develop four new solid waste processing facilities at Bhalswa (for 1,800 TPD), Singhola (700 TPD), Okhla (1,400 TPD), and Narela-Bawana (1,200 TPD). The total cost for these projects is pegged at around Rs 361.42 crore. The proposals have been approved, and tenders have been invited for their development.