New Delhi: Facing criticism for developing a fourth landfill at Singhola after Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur, Municipal Corporation of Delhi claimed that it cleared all the deposited silt at the 7.2-acre location through bioremediation by mid-June. Over six months, 7.59 lakh MT of silt was removed. Following the site clearance, the dumping of silt from eight zones—Shahdara North, Shahdara South, Civil Lines, City SP, Rohini, Narela, Keshav Puram and Karol Bagh—started on July 1 as no alternative location was available, officials said. Daily bioremediation and biomining processes were implemented to prevent substantial waste accumulation, they added. In 2018, Delhi Development Authority allotted the land in Khampur village to the erstwhile east corporation for silt disposal. Subsequently, other agencies, including Public works Department and the irrigation & flood control department, also began utilising the site to dump silt collected during their yearly pre-monsoon drainage cleaning operations. “As a result, within five years of the allotment, the land ran out of capacity,” said an official.In 2023, MCD developed a Rs 79-crore proposal to level the site and generate additional space for waste disposal, incorporating biomining and processed material disposal. “It was decided that the inert generated will be utilised by National Highways Authority of India for road construction, plastic material will be recycled and construction waste will be sent to a C&D waste plant for processing,” an official said earlier.A process to invite tenders started in March 2024 to identify an agencies to implement the task. “MCD awarded the desilting tender in Nov 2024, with 8,000MT of silt reportedly processed daily. The work started after the Supreme Court’s direction and the final cost of the project turned out to be Rs 46 crore,” said the official.Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh added that BJP govt was fully committed to eradicating the mountains of garbage in the city in a time-bound manner and MCD was working diligently to make Delhi clean and green.Most of the silt was earlier sent to Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla landfills, according to officials. Due to the need to decrease the height of these landfills, especially Bhalswa, within fixed timelines, the authorities decided to transfer the silt generated after the cleaning of drains to Singhola.
