Okhla landfill to be shut

NEW DELHI: SDMC has decided to close its

Okhla landfill

where much of south Delhi’s 3,000 MT of

solid waste is dumped daily

. The height of the

landfill

has continued to rise because, apart from the huge volume of unprocessed municipal solid waste, the reject from

Okhla waste-to-energy plant

is also dumped there. At 60 metres, its height is thrice the permissible limit.

SDMC commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said: “We will reduce the size of the landfill by half after it’s closed. It will be capped scientifically by using a certain quantity of waste as covering material after its trammelling. After its height is reduced, it will be beautified.”

Environmentalists have called the landfill a “pollution bomb”, as it exposes people to highly toxic air, besides making groundwater unfit for consumption. It has already exceeded its life span by over a decade. While the landfill’s capping and closure was planned a couple of months ago, the Ghazipur tragedy has prompted authorities to speed up the process. Delhi generates around 9,000 MT of waste daily, which goes to four landfills — Okhla, Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Narela.

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