NEW DELHI: The daily biomining capacity at the Ghazipur landfill will be raised from 7,000 to 12,000 metric tonnes (MT) by July 31, Delhi Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood said Friday.
The government will also introduce separate processing of fresh waste to speed up remediation of the city’s oldest garbage mountain. While inspecting the landfill, the minister ordered weekly reviews of the project and said he would personally revisit the site next month to assess progress.
Nearly 24 lakh MT of legacy waste has been processed under the second phase of biomining and around 20 acres of land reclaimed, leaving around 50 acres. Spread over 70 acres, the Ghazipur landfill has been operational since 1984.
Sources said that despite directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2019, the dumpsite continued to grow and reached a height of around 65 metres or around 213 feet.
The first phase of biomining, carried out between November 2022 and November 2024, was meant to process 30 lakh MT of legacy waste, but the contracted firm could process only 13.9 lakh MT.
The second phase, awarded on March 7, 2025, also targets the processing of 30 lakh MT of legacy waste and is scheduled for completion by September 2026. A drone survey conducted in April revealed that the landfill contained 67.81 lakh MT of waste.
Between April 30 and June 25, around 3.39 lakh MT of waste were processed through biomining, reducing the waste at the site to 66.68 lakh MT, including both legacy and fresh waste. The government has set a target of clearing the remaining waste by December 2027.
Sood said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has identified continuous dumping of fresh waste and disposal of inert material generated during biomining as the two main hurdles slowing the project.
“Around 2,400-2,500 MT of fresh waste reach the Ghazipur site every day from Shahdara North and Shahdara South zones. While a substantial portion is diverted to the waste-to-energy plant, around 800 MT is added daily to the fresh waste heap at the landfill,” a well-placed source revealed.
The minister further directed officials to process fresh waste separately from legacy waste and submit a two-month action plan to his office.
Two key hurdles
Nearly 24 lakh MT of legacy waste has been processed under the second phase of biomining and 20 acres of land reclaimed
Continuous dumping of fresh waste and disposal of inert material generated during biomining are the two main hurdles slowing the project
Sood directed officials to process fresh waste separately from legacy waste and submit a two-month action plan