427 of 2,300 garbage dumping sites fully cleaned; 4,500 acres freed: Khattar

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday said out of 2,300 identified garbage dumping sites across India, 427 have been fully cleaned, freeing up 4,500 acres of land and asserted that the remaining locations would be cleaned in the next two years.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs of India, addressing media, said the nationwide garbage-free cities initiative began in 2021, with only 18 per cent of solid waste being processed at the time. Today, that figure has risen to 73 per cent.

"We are currently processing 1.5 lakh tons of solid waste per day," he said, adding that the country has identified 22 crore metric tons of waste at 2,300 dump sites.

Highlighting the country's progress towards creating garbage-free cities, Khattar noted that a significant portion of the cleaned land has been repurposed for development projects, including initiatives to generate electricity from waste.

"Some of the projects on these lands are focused on waste-to-energy solutions," he explained.

He also emphasised the importance of door-to-door waste collection in reducing the need for dump sites, pointing out that 97 per cent of urban wards now have such systems in place.

"We are moving forward so that no new dump sites are created," Khattar said, underscoring the need for sustainable waste management practices.

He said that while 427 sites have been completely cleaned, several other locations are partially cleared.

He expressed optimism that all dump sites would be fully cleaned in the next two years. "In two years, we aim to completely finish this work." PTI