Delhi govt submits status report before NGT, says solid waste consistently increasing

The Delhi government has filed a status report before the National Green Tribunal, saying the quantity of municipal solid waste was “consistently increasing” because of various factors, including a rapid population growth and mass migration.

In October last year, the NGT had directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 900 crore environmental compensation for improper management of solid municipal waste, saying citizens cannot be faced with an emergency situation due to lack of governance.

It had also formed a committee to find the factual situation and determine the future course of action, including suggestions for disaster management plans, regarding the incidents of fire at the Bhalswa dump yard and Ghazipur landfill.

On Thursday, the tribunal heard the matters related to the management of solid and liquid waste along with the fire incidents at the dumpsites. The Delhi Chief Secretary appeared before the tribunal through video conferencing.

An order from the tribunal is awaited.

Highlighting the challenges faced in solid waste management, the report, dated February 15, said the disposal and collection of municipal waste here was “very high” in comparison to the rest of the country.

“The quantity of municipal solid wastes generated in Delhi has been consistently rising over the years due to the rapid population growth, mass migration of population from rural to urban areas, increase in economic activities in general in the city and the change in lifestyle of the people,” the report said.

It said Delhi generated 11,332 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day on an average and the national capital had the highest percentage of urban population in the country.

The report said four waste to energy (WTE) plants, utilising waste for electricity generation, were operational at Okhla, Ghazipur, Tehkhand and Bawana. “Nearly 70 lakh metric tonnes of legacy solid waste has been processed at the three landfillsAs informed by Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the timeline for remediation of legacy waste at each of the three dumpsites in Delhi is May, 2024,” the report said.

It said there was a gap of 38.5 per cent in processing of solid municipal waste and 11 waste processing and disposal facilities were proposed.

Two new WTE plants were proposed at Narela-Bawana and Ghazipur along with a compressed Bio Gas Plant (BGP) at Ghogha Dairy and two decentralised composter plants at Vishwas Nagar and New Ashok Nagar, the report said.

The report also said that three sorting cum composter plants were proposed at Kirby Place and Delhi Cantt along with a Bio CNG plant at Okhla. The proposal also included expansion of the capacity of the existing WTE at Okhla by 1000 tonnes per day (TPD), the report said.

Materials recovery facilities (MRFs) of 110 TPD were proposed across various zones, while an engineered sanitary landfill (SLF) at Tehkhand was proposed to be constructed by April 2023, it said.

A powerpoint presentation which was submitted as part of the report listed the reasons for fire in dumpsites as the dumping of unsegregated solid waste, unscientific landfilling, dry atmospheric conditions, unauthorised entry of rag pickers, generation of methane gas and absence of vent pipes and gas collection systems.

Regarding liquid waste, the presentation said 768 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage was estimated to be generated in the city, of which there was a gap of 17.7 % in the installed treatment capacity and a gap of 31% in the utilisation capacity.

It said there would be complete treatment of sewage by March 2024 and the sewage treatment capacity would be enhanced by construction of three new sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Okhla, Delhi Gate and Sonia Vihar along with upgradation and increasing capacity of 18 other existing STPs.

Further, three existing STPs would be rehabilitated and 40 decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTP) would be constructed, the presentation said.

It said that the entire flow of drains would be tapped by June 2023 as part of the Interceptor Sewer Project (ISP) of the Delhi Jal Board. The three major untapped drains are Barapullah Drain, Maharani Bagh Drain and Mori Gate Drain, the presentation said.

Out of a total of 1,799 unauthorised colonies, sewer lines were laid in 747 colonies, while the laying of sewerage network was in progress across 537 colonies, it said.

In 558 Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) clusters, the work of trapping the storm water drains into the DJB sewerage system was complete, the presentation said.

Regarding industrial effluent management, it said that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) monitored the existing 13 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) here on a monthly basis.

An environmental compensation of Rs 12.5 crore was imposed on 12 CETPs for not meeting the specified standards in July 2021, following which the CETP Societies directed them to take rectification measures to meet prescribed standards, the presentation said.

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