NEW DELHI: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) removed 120 metric tonnes of garbage and debris from the Yamuna River belt. The locations where this cleaning took place are areas adjacent to Zakir Nagar, Batla House and Delhi Noida Direct flyway. The SDMC in its week-long plan had deployed five vehicles that undertook 26 trips to remove the debris along the river banks. The clean-up drive which was carried out along the river belt approximately 3 km in length has a huge presence of scrap dealers who deal with all sorts of waste.
According to the SDMC, the removed debris and garbage have been taken to ILFS C&D waste processing site at Shastri Park and some landfill sites. Approximately 5,000 trucks carrying garbage are currently lying at the site which includes 90-95 % mix garbage, 4 to 8 per cent municipal solid waste and 1-3 % plastic waste which has to be transported to the waste to energy/designated site of SDMC.
However, the civic body noted that they lack sufficient resources owing to which the desired pace of cleaning will be difficult to achieve. “As per an estimate, 10 tipper trucks...shall have to be engaged per day along with backhoe loader for which an amount of Rs 2,54,18,600 will be required for an exercise to be continued in 365 days,” it said in a statement.
As per another decision of the STF, an action against unauthorised construction will be required.
“Since the area comes under the jurisdiction of DDA and UP irrigation department, the action will involve DDA and UP irrigation department, SDMC being part of this. The action once finalised may be taken up at an appropriate time,” an official stated.