MCD gets nod to invite agencies for Phase-III biomining at Delhi landfills

New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has received anticipatory approval from the mayor to invite agencies for the Phase-III bio-remediation of waste at the Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla landfills."A proposal will be placed before the standing committee to finalise the rate and agency. The process to give anticipatory approval has been adopted to save time, and we expect that work will start soon," said mayor Raja Iqbal Singh.Currently, 58 trommel machines have been deployed to process about 153 lakh metric tonnes (MT) deposited across the three sites. This includes 43.6 lakh MT at Bhalswa, 80.6 lakh MT at Ghazipur and 28.2 lakh MT at Okhla. MCD has set different deadlines for flattening the landfills -- July 2026 for Okhla, Dec 2026 for Bhalswa, and 2027 for Ghazipur.Under Phase-II, about 120 lakh metric tonnes of waste was to be processed by the agencies at the three landfills. At Bhalswa, a new agency took charge of Phase-II biomining work in Dec 2024 and was tasked with processing 45 lakh MT legacy waste in 18 months. Till July 7, 15.3 lakh MT of waste had been processed, said officials. As soon as the monsoon season is over, we will make efforts to achieve the target in 12-13 months," said an official.The biomining target at Okhla and Ghazipur was 30 lakh MT and 45 lakh MT, respectively. At Okhla, 10.5 lakh MT of legacy waste has been processed since Dec 18, 2024 while at Ghazipur, 4 lakh MT has been processed since April 1 under Phase-II, said MCD.Even after Phase-II biomining is completed, a huge amount of waste would remain at all three sites. This would be in addition to the waste dumped at the landfills every day.Officials said Delhi generates 11,300 MT of fresh waste daily, of which 7,300 MT is processed by four waste-to-energy plants — Ghazipur, Tehkand, Okhla and Narela — while the remaining is directed to the landfills.