New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Thursday (March 23) asked MCD officials to issue a seven-day termination notice to the contractor responsible for flattening the garbage moulds at the Ghazipur landfill site and warned that a heavy penalty could also be imposed if the pace of work does not improve. During a visit to the three landfill sites at Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa, LG Saxena took stock of the progress made in waste disposal since his first visit to the Ghazipur site on May 29, the Raj Niwas said in a statement.
The National Green Tribunal has constituted a high-level monitoring committee with the LG as its head.
The statement said,
The LG expressed satisfaction over the pace of work at Okhla and Bhalswa landfill sites, which are set to achieve the capacity of disposing of 15,000 MT of waste per day (4.5 lakh MT per month).
“However, he expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work at the Ghazipur landfill site and directed MCD officials to issue a seven-day termination notice to the contractor to expedite the work failing which heavy penalty would be imposed and criminal proceedings against the contractor will be initiated for wasting government funds and time,” it added.
Also Read: Landfills: A Big Burden On Delhi’s Chest
Addressing officials, the LG said sufficient infrastructure has been created with assistance from central government agencies and industry to ensure a disposal rate of about 10 lakh MT per month and asked the MCD to achieve this target in the next three months.
The Raj Niwas said the garbage being disposed from the three landfill sites at an average rate of 1.41 lakh MT per month from 2019 till June 2022, went up to about 6 lakh MT per month by December 2022, thereby, increasing the legacy waste disposal by over 400 per cent.
During the seven months between July 2022 and February 2023, about 30 lakh MT of solid waste have been disposed from the landfill sites, which has resulted in reducing the height of garbage mounds at each of the 3 sites by at least 15 metres in just 7 months, it said.
The LG said 45 lakh MT of legacy Inert and C&D waste had been committed to being consumed by the National Highways Authority of India and Delhi Development Authority at their construction sites. He said public participation had ensured the lifting of about 1 lakh MT Inert and C&D waste during the last 6 months.
Similarly, the waste-to-energy power plants, which were opened and upgraded during the last 6 months were consuming 6,000 MTs of RDF waste every day.
Also Read: Living In The Shadows Of Asia’s Largest Garbage Mountain, The Ghazipur Landfill
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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