East MCD to discuss new landfill site with NGT today

The meeting comes close on the heels of an accident in east Delhi, triggered by the collapse of a portion of the towering Ghazipur landfill, in which two people lost their lives while five others were injured.

"A meeting is scheduled on September 4 with the authorities at the NGT to discuss about the proposed new landfill site, spread over 150 acres, in outer Delhi, as an alternative to the Ghazipur site," East Delhi Mayor Neema Bhagat said.

She said the 45-m high landfill at Ghazipur was saturated in 2002 only, and the civic body has been "looking for an alternative site for long time, but a clearance from the NGT is needed before allowing of any site by the DDA".

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) manages the landfill site that was started in 1984 and is spread over 29 acres.

According to officials, the permissible height for a garbage dump is 20 m. Every day, 2,500-3000 metric tonnes of garbage are dumped at the Ghazipur site.

The humongous heap sits like a Leviathan, with eagles and crows circling even as the stench from the mountain of trash fills the air.

In the wake of the accident on Friday, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday imposed a ban on dumping of garbage at the Ghazipur landfill site, with the waste meant for it now being diverted to a temporary site in Ranikhera near the Delhi- Haryana border.

Earlier, a decision was taken to divert the garbage to Bhalswa landfill site (about 50-metre high), but as it is already used way beyond its saturation, a new site was identified, a civic official on Saturday said.

Incidentally, the EDMC in last November had signed an MoU with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for using the solid waste from the site, in the construction of Delhi- Meerut Expressway, a section of the NH-24.

"The NHAI has assured the LG that it will begin the process of lifting, segregating and processing of the solid waste by November 2017, for its use in road construction," the LG office said.