Delhi largest municipal solid waste producer in country: Survey

Delhi is the largest municipal solid waste producer in the country, followed by Mumbai, says a survey by a business house.

Delhi produces 6,800 tonnes of solid waste a day, while Mumbai generates 6,500 tonnes. In the absence of scientific management facilities, these cities are dumping the wastes in landfill sites, says the survey carried out by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in 22 cities across the country.

Mumbai sends all of its waste to dumping sites followed by Delhi’s 94 per cent, it added. In fact, as many as 14 cities dump 75 per cent of their solid wastes, which is as high as 15,785 tonnes a day, indicating the lack of adequate treatment and disposal facilities.

“In cities like Delhi, Faridabad, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Pune and Surat, which are at the higher end of the waste generation spectrum, more than 80 per cent of the waste is disposed off in landfills," the report said. It pointed out that waste treatment options such as composing and waste-to-energy plants were not being adequately explored by the big cities, which generate high percentage of wastes.

However, with cities like Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, Surat and Ahmedabad, which supply over 80 per cent of their waste to dump sites, there is a huge potential for landfill gas-based energy projects.