New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Days after a major fire in Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi, civic authorities on Saturday said the process has begun to replace the old trommel machines with new, high-speed equipment that would eventually also double the waste-processing capacity to "three lakh tonne per month".

An estimated 140 lakh tonne of legacy waste is lying at the massive dump and processing it is a "challenging task," the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said in a statement.

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"In order to reduce legacy waste at Ghazipur landfill site, EDMC has replaced the old-model trommel machines, and started installing the new-model, high-speed trommel machines. These machines will be operated in two shifts. In this way, the total waste disposal capacity of the corporation will be three lakh tonne per month," it said.

The EDMC is trying to handle the legacy waste at Ghazipur landfill site in many ways, such as power generation from waste, segregation of waste by using trommel machines and compost-making.

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The capacity of existing trommel machines is less and they are occupying more space. Presently, the waste is being processed at an estimated rate of 1.20 lakh tonne per month, the civic body said.

The move by the EDMC comes after a fire broke out at the massive dumping yard on Monday following which a huge cloud of smoke enveloped the region and its neighbouring areas.

The blaze was finally doused on Wednesday evening, over 50 hours after it broke out.

The Delhi Assembly's Environment Committee on Wednesday had summoned the commissioner of the EDMC to explain what steps had been taken to clear the landfill site and prevent fires there, head of the panel Atishi had said.

The EDMC on Saturday said, apart from the replacement of old trommel machines, the corporation has also invited tenders from companies for treatment of 50 lakh tonne of waste, and those are "currently being evaluated".

The work order is likely to be issued soon, it said.

"The way the engineering department of the corporation is working on a war-footing, the garbage dump in Ghazipur will be a thing of the past," the EDMC claimed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)