Waste removal work at Okhla landfill running behind target: CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday visited the Okhla landfill site and said the work to process and remove waste from the massive dump was running behind the projected target.

Interacting with reporters, the chief minister also said that the Delhi government is planning to hire the MCD "as an agency" to carry out mechanical sweeping and cleaning of roads falling under the jurisdiction of the PWD and the civic body.

The chief minister's visit to the Okhla landfill site comes days after an inspection of work being done at the Bhalswa landfill site.

There were 45 lakh tonnes of waste in this mountain of garbage at Okhla. Work began last November to process and remove it gradually, and the target was to remove 30 lakh tonnes by May 2024, Kejriwal told reporters.

"But, this work is running slightly behind the projected target. Till date, about 18 lakh tonnes had to be removed, but (only) 12 lakh tonnes has been removed," he said.

There are multiple reasons for this. But the process of hiring another agency has started to speed up the work, as one agency is not able to meet the target.

Since the standing committee of the MCD is not in place, and the matter is in court, as soon as the panel gets set up, both agencies will then work to meet the projected target.

"We expect the target to be reached. Delhi government and the MCD, we are working to remove the mountains of garbage. And last week, we visited the Bhalswa site," the chief minister said.

To a query on a study on nanoparticles and pollution in Delhi, he said that he agreed with it.

"We are planning to have on PWD roads, mechanical sweeping and cleaning also... We will do it on MCD roads too," Kejriwal said.

On the plan to hire the MCD as an agency, the chief minister said the Cabinet note is ready and it should be done by this or the next week. "Then the MCD will start work on sweeping, first the roads under the PWD spanning 1,480 km, and then the roads under the MCD," Kejriwal told reporters.