Bhalswa landfill to be tagged pollution hotspot: Min Sood

New Delhi: Delhi Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood on Thursday inspected the Bhalswa Landfill Site and directed officials to speed up efforts to eliminate the capital’s “garbage mountains.” During the inspection, he announced that the site would be declared a “pollution hotspot” and ordered immediate steps to control dust and air pollution in the area.

“The Bhalswa site contributes heavily to Delhi’s air and dust pollution. It must now be treated as a pollution hotspot with strict monitoring and scientific waste disposal,” Sood said while reviewing waste processing and biomining work at the site. Senior officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other departments accompanied him during the inspection.

The Minister ordered the installation of six anti-smog guns and twelve water sprinklers at the landfill to reduce dust emissions. He also directed a drone survey of the site to assess remaining waste and submit a report within ten days. “We cannot allow another garbage mountain to rise. Fresh waste arriving daily must be processed simultaneously,” he said. Sood revealed that around 4,000 metric tonnes of fresh waste is dumped daily at Bhalswa, with over 800 garbage trucks consuming nearly 7,000 litres of diesel, further worsening pollution levels. The landfill, operational since 1994, had reached 65 metres in height by 2019, with over 10.9 million metric tonnes of total waste accumulated since then. Of this, 6.88 million tonnes have been biomined, leaving about 4 million tonnes yet to be processed.

He added that 10 acres have been allocated for wet waste processing starting December 2025, reaffirming the government’s commitment to a cleaner, garbage-free Delhi.