Inert waste to be used for road construction: South Delhi civic body

Setting a target to stop dumping of waste at the Okhla landfill by June 2022, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Thursday said it is exploring the possibility of using inert material, produced during biomining of legacy waste at the site, in construction of roads.

SDMC commissioner Gyanesh Bharti said the civic body had numerous ''successful meetings'' with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in connection with use of inert material in road construction.

''We have had meetings with NHAI officials regarding use of inert materials in construction of roads and highways. This time we are very positive and hopeful that they will use inert materials for road construction. They are studying how it can be used and also checking its durability,'' Bharti said during a media interaction.

Dinesh Yadav, Director, Department of Environment Management Services (DEMS) at the SDMC, said inert materials can be used for the road development projects.

''If everything goes as planned, we will supply inert materials to NHAI which they will use in construction projects of Urban Extension Road-2 (UER-2) and a highway near Kalindi Kunj (Kalindi Kunj bypass),'' Yadav said.

He said inert materials are generated in the process of biomining of legacy waste at landfill sites. These inert materials also include construction and demolition waste.

This is not the first time when use of processed legacy waste is to be used for road construction.

Prior to this, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation had in March this year announced to use inert material in construction of a 800-metre stretch of a service road in Kalyanpuri near Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

The SDMC has also set a target to stop dumping of waste at the Okhla Landfill site by June 2022 and scientifically close the landfill by the end of 2023.

It has engaged 13 companies to transport and utilise inert material so that its disposal can be expedited.

According to civic officials, Nearly 3,600 metric tonnes of garbage is generated in south Delhi every day, of which only 50 per cent is processed by the SDMC and the rest is dumped at Okhla landfill.

Yadav said the civic body will start operation of a Waste to Energy (WTE) plant in June 2022. This plant is located in Tahkhand area of south Delhi and will have a capacity to process 2,000 metric tonnes of waste material.

''After this plant is operational, we will be able to stop dumping of new garbage at the landfill as we will be able to fully process our waste.

''So with the help of WTEs and bio-mining of legacy waste, we will be able to cap or shut the Okhla landfill site by the end of 2023,'' Yadav said.

He also said the civic body will also start an engineering landfill in Tahkhand in the coming years.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)