What has BJP been doing for the last 15 years? Now that MCD will be controlled by the central government, will the PM solve this problem?: Atishi
Vidhan Sabha’s Environment Committee summons East MCD Commissioner again, asks for action plan on Ghazipur Landfill by Tuesday
EDMC says it will take at least 10 years at peak performance to clear Ghazipur Landfill
EDMC has no plan of action for remediation of legacy waste at the Ghazipur landfill site; how will the growth of the garbage mountain ever end?: Atishi
140 Lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Ghazipur cause of fire at the landfill; EDMC blames non-availability of funds for their inability
Only 9 Lakh tonnes of legacy waste treated in 1.5 years, same quantity of fresh waste added in this period
NEW DELHI
Revelations about the mismanagement taking place in the East MCD came to the fore on Tuesday as the Delhi Vidhan Sabha’s Committee on Environment held a deposition of the EDMC Commissioner. Held under the Chairpersonship of MLA Ms Atishi, the committee sought explanations from the East MCD on what steps have been taken to clear the Ghazipur landfill site and prevent fires as well as data on garbage management. The East MCD Commissioner admitted that they don’t have money, land or an adequate plan to solve the garbage problem of Ghazipur Landfill during the deposition. To this, MLA Ms Atishi questioned what the BJP had been doing for the last 15 years in power of the MCD? Now that MCD will be controlled by the central government, will the PM solve this problem? EDMC has no plan of action for remediation of legacy waste at the Ghazipur landfill site; how will the growth of the garbage mountain ever end?, she asked. The EDMC has stated that it will take at least 10 years at peak performance to clear Ghazipur Landfill. 140 Lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Ghazipur was presented as the cause of fire at the landfill as the EDMC blamed non-availability of funds for their inability to clear it out. As a matter of fact, only 9 Lakh tonnes of legacy waste was treated in 1.5 years, the same quantity of fresh waste was added in this period at the site. The Environment Committee has summoned the East MCD Commissioner again and has asked him for an action plan on Ghazipur Landfill by Tuesday.
The Environment Committee of the Delhi Legislative Assembly summoned the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) Commissioner on Tuesday for Ghazipur Landfill fire and non availability of an action plan to resolve the issue. Taking a note of slow progress to remediate the landfill site which was commissioned in 1984, Chairperson of the committee, MLA Ms Atishi said that it is shocking to see that despite years of persisting problem at the landfill site EDMC does not have a concrete plan to deal with the hazardous waste. The Commissioner pointed out that the amount of garbage being treated everyday at the landfill is almost equal to new stock of garbage being received at the site. Even with the most optimistic plans, EDMC will take at least 10 years to solve this problem.
The committee also asked the EDMC to explain the causes of fire at Ghazipur landfill site and what steps it has taken to clear the site. Currently, 140 lakh ton legacy waste is lying at the landfill site which continues to be the long standing problems for Delhi residents and is leading to various health issues.
The EDMC had no plan and funds in place to resolve the problem and blamed agencies like DDA for not providing land where extra garbage could be dumped. The EDMC Commissioner said they have been able to clear only 9 lakh tonnes of waste in the past 1.5 years.
Giving warning to the team of EDMC, the Environment Committee asked them to present a concrete plan for clearing this self combustible landfill site by Tuesday. Chairperson of the committee sought the details of all the correspondence between EDMC, DDA and land owning agencies with respect to Ghazipu landfill. She also asked for the details of their waste to energy plants and recycling plants.
The Commissioner pointed out that the Waste to Energy Plant located in Ghazipur hasn’t been functioning since the bankruptcy of the private partner. The plant is undergoing renovations and is only expected to be operational from May, 2022.
Responding to the explanations of EDMC team members, Ms Atishi tweeted that, “East Delhi Municipal Corporation admitted that they don’t have money, land or an adequate plan to solve the garbage problem of East Delhi! So what has BJP been doing for the last 15 years? Now that MCD will be controlled by the central government, will the PM solve this problem?”
Kejriwal Government had slapped a fine of Rs 50 lac on MCD for the fire
The Kejriwal Government had slapped a fine of Rs 50 lac on MCD due to its sheer negligence in maintaining rules and regulations at the Ghazipur landfill, where a fire broke out on 28th March because of MCD’s carelessness. Directions were issued to take strict action against employees and officers who were on-duty at the time of the fire. The DPCC had submitted a detailed report after examining the incident, and the investigation had stated that the MCD had bypassed all environment protection norms at the site. Only 21 trommel machines out of 25 were found working at the landfill, while the anti-smog guns were also not working. Only 17 out of 24 CCTVs meant for monitoring the landfill were functional. CPCB had ordered construction of a boundary around the landfill but it has not been constructed till now.