North Delhi mayor meets L-G over landfill site issue

North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal today met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, a day after authorities decided that garbage meant for Ghazipur landfill site would be diverted to a temporary site in Ranikhera area.
Ranikhera is located near the Delhi-Haryana border and falls under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).
The L-G had yesterday banned dumping of garbage at the Ghazipur site in east Delhi after an accident triggered by collapse of a portion of the 45 metre-high waste heap on Friday killed two people.
Several local residents in Ranikhera led by a senior leader of the NDMC today protested the decision to dump garbage there.

NDMC officials said Agarwal met Baijal at the Raj Niwas to discuss the issue.
She was assured that the arrangement to dump garbage at Ranikhera was temporary, a senior civic official said.

"Within a week, some permanent solution would be drawn up. Moreover it would be ensured that no slaughtering waste is dumped at Ranikhera site," Agarwal was quoted as saying in a statement.
Earlier, a decision was taken to divert the garbage to Bhalswa landfill site, but the nearly 50 metre-high heap is already saturated way beyond its capacity.
Agarwal had yesterday said that "Bhalswa landfill site poses a similar threat" and directed authorities to take immediate and necessary steps to avoid a repeat of the Ghazipur incident.

Bhalswa landfill site falls under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. She has also sought a status report from the Municipal Commissioner about the landfill site.
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) manages the landfill site at Ghazipur that was started in 1984 and is spread over 29 acres.
According to officials, the permissible height for a garbage dump is 20 m. Every day, 2,500-3000 metric tonnes of garbage are dumped at the Ghazipur site.
The other major dumping sites in the city are in Okhla and Narela-Bawana.