In order to avert the similar tragedy, North Corporation Mayor Preety Agarwal on Saturday sought a status report from the Municipal Commissioner about Bhalswa landfill site. The Bhalswa landfill site commissioned in 1993 and became functional in 1994 but due to lack of any garbage management laws, the site turned into a garbage mountain.
Agarwal told The Pioneer that the Bhalswa landfill site is also posing a similar threat and therefore directed the authorities that immediate necessary action is taken in order to avoid such an incident.
“The officials have been directed to take precautionary measures to avoid any further incident in the wake of Ghazipur mishap,” she said.
But the civic bodies argue that they have “no other option” but to use these sites and they are being “continued at the risk of human life”, according to the economic survey report. And what is alarming is that waste generation is expected to go up to 15,000 metric tones per day by 2020, the report added.
Delhi produces over 8,500 MTD of solid waste, but all three of its dumping grounds, with a collective capacity of 4,600 MTD are operating beyond their saturation point, at the “risk of human lives”, according to official documents.
According to the DPCC, the wastes produced by the civic bodies are: North Corporation 3,100 MTD, South 2,700 MTD, East 2,200 MTD, New Delhi Municipal Council 300 MTD and Delhi Cantonment Board 70 MTD.
The judiciary, including the Delhi High Court, has also rapped the civic bodies repeatedly over the situation, but the corporations cite unavailability of land and blame the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not providing land. However, all the three Municipal Corporation have still been dumping their solid waste at these sites that have already reached a saturation point, citing unavailability of land for the same purpose.