10,000 MTs of inert, clean, dry waste received from private entities in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi [India], August 26 : More than 10,000 MTs of inert, clean and dry waste have been received from the private entities in Delhi and NCR of which 8,421.75 MTs have been lifted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
On the direction of Lt Governor, V. K. Saxena, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi appealed to the people of Delhi-NCR to utilize clean and dry waste.
The LG visited the landfill site at Ghazipur on May 29, 2022 and after taking stock of the situation, asked officials to explore the possibilities of disposal of inert and C&D waste with public participation.
Accordingly, Saxena had directed the MCD to issue a public appeal in which the Corporation had appealed to the residents of Delhi and the National Capital Region to optimally use the C&D Waste and Inert material for their construction activities. MCD had offered to give the C&D waste and inert from landfill sites free of cost.
The appeal first made on 21st July, 2022 and later on August 4, 2022 has borne fruitful and encouraging results with people of Delhi and NCR as well as various agencies warming up to the idea to use the C&D waste and inert for their own use.
It may be noted that the Lt. Governor had also appealed to other government agencies involved in building and road construction like DDA, PWD, NDMC, NHAI and CPWD, etc. to start using inert and C&D waste for their activities. DDA and PWD have already decided to use the same.
This exercise by MCD has effected a win-win situation for all stakeholders. MCD was earlier bearing an average cost of Rs 500 MTs for transportation of inert and C&D waste from landfill sites to construction sites of user like NHAI. But now these agencies/public are lifting inert and C&D waste from the landfill sites at their own expenses.
At this rate, MCD has so far saved over Rs 52 lakhs in transportation of 10,500 MTs of waste, which it would have incurred otherwise. On the other hand, the agencies/public who were till now paying for inert and C&D waste at an average rate of Rs. 500-700 per MT are now getting it free of cost by just paying the transportation charges.
Delhi's landfill sites at Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur have heaps of inert which is obtained after processing garbage as well as C&D waste. This can be used in filling low lying areas, base of buildings, road construction, making interlocking blocks etc. The space cleared after removing inert can be used for setting up more trommel machines at landfill sites, which will lead to faster processing of legacy waste.
The LG has directed the MCD to further augment engagement with concerned stakeholders and reiterate its appeal to them so that the process of off take of C&D waste and inert could be expedited. It may be noted that the LG himself is steering engagements with various government and private agencies/organizations to ensure reuse and recycling of the legacy waste in the City.
Due to continuous dumping for the last 35-40 years, heaps of garbage at these landfill sites have turned into garbage 'mountains' of 50 to 60 meters height, containing 280 lakh tonnes of garbage.