New Delhi: In a high-level review meeting held this week, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh assessed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) progress in solid waste management, with a renewed emphasis on fast-tracking the reclamation of the city’s massive landfill sites, Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhla.
Joined by Deputy Mayor Jai Bhagwan Yadav, Leader of the House Pravesh Wahi, Standing Committee Chairperson Satya Sharma, Deputy Chairman Sundar Singh, MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar, and other top officials, the meeting discussed 13 major agenda points related to waste processing and environmental sustainability.
Mayor Singh informed that the MCD had recently scaled up biomining operations to 30,000 tonnes per day (TPD), an increase from 25,000 TPD earlier this year. “The Corporation is on track to reclaim all three landfills before the 2026 deadline,” Singh said. Biomining is a process through which legacy waste is scientifically treated and the land is gradually restored.
Attention was also directed toward expanding the city’s waste-to-energy (WTE) capacity. Singh announced that a 3,000 TPD WTE plant in Narela-Bawana had received environmental clearance on June 20. The plant, a 30 MW facility, will be developed through a public-private partnership with Jindal Urban Waste Management (Bawana) Limited. Located in Sector 5 of the Bawana Industrial Area, the project aims to divert large volumes of waste away from landfills. However, the project has drawn scrutiny from local communities who continue to express concerns about potential environmental and health impacts.
In addition to Narela-Bawana, Singh shared that bids had been floated for another WTE plant at Ghazipur. The project has received in-principle clearance for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, potentially bolstering its financial feasibility.
Chief Minister Gupta urged the MCD to ensure that reclaimed landfill areas are redeveloped with public benefit in mind. “One-third of the reclaimed land must be dedicated to essential community infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and sports facilities,” she said. Officials stated that the remainder will be allocated for new-generation waste management systems to prevent future accumulation of waste.
A major highlight from the meeting was the announcement of a 100 TPD Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant at Ghoga Dairy, set to be inaugurated on August 15. “This will mark a significant leap forward in the capital’s wet waste treatment capabilities,” Singh said.
The Delhi government and MCD also reaffirmed their commitment to establish more biogas plants citywide to tackle dairy-related waste and support a greener urban future.