Segregated garbage plan goes waste

The MCD launched its door-to-door garbage collection scheme in two of the 12 municipal zones in March 2009. The scheme involves collection of waste from residential colonies by green and blue auto tippers after primary segregation as bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste.

The waste is then meant to be transferred to processing plants for recycling or compost production. The MCD officials,however,say as the Corporation does not have available land for processing sites,transfer stations or for segregated disposal,the collected waste gets mixed up when it is dumped at the landfill sites.

The MCD at present has three landfill sites — at Ghazipur in East Delhi,Bhalwasa in North and Okhla in South — which the municipal body claims have already exceeded capacity.

The civic body is also developing a solid waste processing site at Okhla and Bawana,which is to be ready for use by 2011.

In January,the MCD had approached the Supreme Court seeking “urgent permission” to dump Delhi’s daily garbage at the abandoned Bhatti mines in the Ridge area. It had claimed the Bhatti mines area,if reclaimed,could meet the requirement of disposal of municipal solid waste of Delhi for the next 25 years.

The Corporation,however,was denied permission in March after objections from the Ridge Management Board.

Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra said: “The door-to-door collection scheme is at a nascent stage and the MCD is already developing processing units and transfer stations at Narela and Bawana,which once functional will take care of 4,000 metric tones of solid waste once functional.”

The MCD is also developing two ‘waste to energy’ plants at Okhla and Ghazipur that will treat 3,500 metric tones of solid waste.

The segregation at the source of waste collection scheme is currently functional through a public private partnership in the Civil Lines zone and Rohini zone.

The civic body also plans to introduce the scheme in Shahdara North and South zone.