The NGT made the remarks while hearing a suo motu case over the management of solid waste at the Ghazipur landfill.
| Photo Credit: file photo
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pointed out gaps in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) plan to clear the Ghazipur landfill by 2028. The tribunal noted that the dump receives around 2,400–2,600 tonnes of garbage daily and a “much lesser quantity” is being processed, indicating that the untreated garbage is adding to the legacy waste.
The waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Ghazipur processes around 700-1,000 tonnes of waste every day, and the additional load, which used to be sent to the WTE in Okhla, is no longer sent for processing, remarked the NGT’s Principal Bench, comprising chairperson Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A. Senthil Vel, on July 10.
The NGT made the remarks while hearing a suo motu case over the management of solid waste at the Ghazipur landfill.
“The gap in the receipt and treatment of the solid waste is reflected, yet without disclosing the details of filling this gap and the steps that will be taken to clear the legacy waste, the targeted timeline for complete clearance is stated to be 2028,” said the green court.
It noted that the civic body had, in a report, talked about having partly cleared a five-acre area by September 2024.
“The MCD is required to disclose how this five-acre area has been cleared when there is a regular addition to the legacy waste on account of the gap in waste processing. It is also required to disclose the quantum of waste that is presently lying in the Ghazipur site as legacy waste,” read the order.
The NGT stated that the civic agency’s report also indicates that construction and demolition (C&D) waste and inert material have been spread across the landfill to prevent fires.
“If that is the case, the MCD is required to disclose its feasibility while treating the waste mixed with C&D waste either through biomining or its segregation in a trommel or its use in the WTE plant,” said the tribunal. It asked the civic body to share the details of the case within six weeks.
Clearing the landfills has been one of the promises of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Delhi. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has made multiple visits to the Capital’s three landfills.
In a visit to the Ghazipur landfill in April, the Minister said that “garbage mountains in Delhi will disappear just like the dinosaurs”.
Published – July 19, 2025 01:17 am IST
