Shift into high gear: CM orders 24x7 clean-up of all landfill sites
New Delhi: Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday expressed strong displeasure over the slow pace of waste disposal at the Ghazipur landfill and directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to intensify clean-up efforts across all three landfill sites in the city.
Chairing a high-level review meeting at the Delhi Secretariat with officials from the MCD and the urban development department, the Chief Minister issued strict instructions for round-the-clock waste clearance operations. “Waste removal needs to shift into high gear,” Gupta told officials, adding that the government is now treating the issue with utmost urgency and responsibility.
Delhi has three major legacy landfill sites, Okhla, Ghazipur, and Bhalswa, where over 160 lakh tonnes of old waste continue to pile up, while nearly 3,500 tonnes of fresh waste are still being dumped daily at Ghazipur and Bhalswa.
To speed up the clean-up, Gupta announced an increase in the number of waste-processing machines and enhanced shift operations to ensure 24x7 activity at all three sites. “We’ve directed MCD to boost machine capacity and efficiency. The aim is to double the current pace of waste removal,” she said.
The chief minister also ordered immediate commencement of construction at two proposed waste-to-energy plants in Narela and Ghazipur and asked for expansion work to be expedited at the existing plants in Okhla and Tehkhand.
“The landfills in Delhi are not just heaps of garbage, they reflect years of civic apathy,” Gupta said after the meeting. “We owe it to future generations to act now. Cleaning these sites is not optional. It’s
our top priority, and no delay will be tolerated.”
In addition to landfill remediation, the chief minister instructed the MCD to launch a three-month citywide cleanliness drive to overhaul Delhi’s sanitation system. Gupta said the government was working in “mission mode” to rid the capital of its long-standing waste crisis and ensure that such conditions are never repeated.
She also asked officials to prepare redevelopment plans for each landfill site post-clean-up, ensuring they are transformed into useful spaces for the public. “The people of Delhi deserve a cleaner, healthier city, and we’re fully committed to making that happen,” she said.
