NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday visited the Okhla landfill site and said the work of waste disposal was lagging behind its target. To expedite the waste removal, another agency will be hired, he announced as of 18 lakh tons of waste to be removed, only 12 lakh tons have been cleared.
“At the Okhla landfill site, there is a mountain of garbage measuring 45 lakh tonnes. On November 7, the process of removal of garbage began. We had a set target of removal of garbage of 30 lakh tonnes by May 2024. But due to some unforeseen incident, we are lagging behind the target a bit, the chief minister said.
Kejriwal said the process of hiring a second agency is almost complete. The delay is due to the non-formation of the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as the matter is subjudice and the party is waiting for the Supreme Court judgment.
He claimed once both agencies start working parallelly, the goal of removing 30 lakh tons of waste will be achieved by May 2024.“The Delhi government and the MCD are working to remove all mountains of garbage. Last week, we monitored the Bhalswa landfill site to monitor,” Kejriwal added. Flattening the landfill sites in Delhi was one of the electoral promises of AAP when it returned to power in 2020.