Delhi's Mounting Waste: A City Under Siege

Delhi faces a daunting waste management challenge with its towering landfill sites. Despite ongoing efforts in biomining and waste processing, over 14,000 tonnes of waste are generated daily. The installation of new waste-processing facilities aims to alleviate the burden, though a significant gap remains in processing capacity.

Delhi continues to grapple with its waste management dilemma, marked by the formidable presence of three towering landfill sites. The sites exemplify the challenges of managing both legacy waste, accumulated over decades, and fresh daily waste. Recent data paints a revealing picture of the city's ongoing battle with its waste burden.

Officials report that the Okhla landfill site holds approximately 26.38 lakh metric tonnes of waste, while Bhalswa and Ghazipur face even steeper challenges with 47.97 and 77.29 lakh metric tonnes, respectively. Rising volumes underscore the city's daily sanitation hurdles, as Delhi generates over 14,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day.

Efforts to mitigate these challenges include the planned installation of new facilities to process fresh waste into manure. Although processing capacities are robust on paper, a considerable gap remains. Sustained biomining and waste-to-energy projects offer hope, yet the scale of accumulated waste signals a lengthy road to resolution.

(With inputs from agencies.)