India News | Pvt Entities Lifted over 8,000 MT of Inert, C&D Waste from Delhi's Three Landfill Sites

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) Private entities have lifted over 8,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of inert material and construction & demolition (C&D) waste from the three landfill sites of the city at their own expenses, an official statement from the Lieutenant Governor's office said on Thursday.

These results come after LG VK Saxena's direction to MCD to offer C&D waste and inert material from landfill sites to private entities and individuals free of cost.

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"Orders for 10,500 MTs of inert and C&D waste has been received from private entities of which 8421.75 MTs has already been lifted by them from landfills at their own expenses. The MCD has so far saved over Rs 42.11 lakhs in disposal of 8421.75 MTs of waste, which it would have incurred otherwise," the statement said.

The C&D waste can be used in filling low lying areas, base of buildings, road construction, making interlocking blocks among others. The space cleared after removing inert can be used for setting up more trommel machines at landfill sites, which will lead to faster processing of legacy waste, it added.

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The LG has often referred the mounds of garbage as national shame and appealed the public for their active participation and suggest ways to reduce the height of three landfill sites -- Ghazipur, Balswa and Okhla.

The LG had visited the Ghazipur landfill site on May 29 and after taking stock of the situation on ground, he had asked officials to explore the possibilities of disposal of inert and C&D waste with public-participation.

Due to continuous dumping of waste for the last 35-40 years, heaps of garbage at these landfill sites have turned into "garbage mountains" having height of 50 to 60 metres. The city's three landfill sites cumulatively contain 280 lakh tonnes of garbage.

The LG had directed the MCD to issue a public appeal in which the Corporation had appealed to the residents, construction agencies and other players to optimally use the C&D waste and inert material for their construction activities.

The statement said that the MCD had offered to give the C&D waste and inert from landfill sites free of cost.

"The appeal first made on July 21 and later on August 4 has borne fruitful and encouraging results with people of Delhi-NCR as well as various agencies warming up to the idea to use the C&D waste and inert for their own use and ordered to lift 10,500 MTs in less than one month," the statement said.

According to civic officials, the city cumulatively generates around 11,400 metric tons of garbage out of which nearly 6,200 metric tons is dumped at these three landfills.

The remaining 5,200 metric ton garbage is processed locally with the help of compactors and Waste-To-Energy (WTE) plants.

While this exercise is saving costs for MCD, it is also ensuring that the height of the garbage mounds gets reduced, it added.

The statement said that the MCD was earlier bearing an average cost of Rs 500 per MT for transportation of inert and C&D waste from landfill sites to construction sites of user like NHAI but now, agencies/people are lifting inert and C&D waste from the landfill sites at their own expenses.

"At this rate, the MCD has so far saved over Rs 42.11 lakhs in disposal of 8421.75 MTs of waste, which it would have incurred otherwise," the statement said.

(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)