Garbage piles up as the global AI summit draws massive crowds

New Delhi: Even as Delhi hosts one of its largest international technology gatherings, the AI Impact Summit 2026, drawing delegates from about 20 countries and an estimated two lakh visitors across its run, workers on the ground are grappling with a very different reality: mounds of unsegregated waste accumulating behind the venue’s gates.

At Bharat Mandapam, where world leaders and technology executives are discussing the future of artificial intelligence, 25-year-old Rohit spends his day sorting leftover food waste, plastic, and plywood into makeshift piles. A resident of Seemapuri, he has worked at major events before, but calls this “one of the heaviest loads yet”.

Waste is currently being dumped at least five locations behind Gates 1, 3, 5, 10 and 12, and workers say the volume has exceeded planning estimates.

Tajuddin Ansari, who began as a door-to-door collector and now organises waste-picker teams for large events, said he was first called on February 14 to clear garbage left after the Bharat Bodhan AI Conclave held on February 12-13.

“I asked for 120 workers to finish the job in two days, but permission was given for only 60,” he said.

Two days later, he received another call as daily waste began accumulating from the ongoing summit crowds.