The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has approved a change in land use of a 10 acre plot in Ghazipur paving the way for a fresh waste processing facility with a capacity of at least 800 tonnes per day. The project will also include a biogas plant aimed at reducing the flow of newly generated municipal waste to Delhi’s major landfill sites.
The land secured by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) near the Integrated Freight Complex at Ghazipur, will be used to process fresh municipal waste. Five acres have been earmarked for the waste processing facility, while the remaining five acres will accommodate the biogas plant.
The DDA approved changing the land-use category from “Commercial (Freight Complex)” to “Utility” for the project. Officials said the facility is expected to help reduce the environmental burden associated with Delhi’s landfills and improve the city waste management system.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor and DDA Chairman Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The meeting also approved the Master Plan for Delhi 2047 which will guide the planned development of the national capital.
The Ghazipur facility is part of a larger MCD plan to establish five fresh waste processing facilities across Delhi by October end. Together these facilities are expected to have a processing capacity of up to 5,900 tonnes of fresh waste per day.
Besides Ghazipur, facilities are planned at Bhalswa, Singhola, Okhla and Narela Bawana. The proposed plant at Bhalswa will have a capacity of 1,800 tonnes per day, while facilities at Singhola and Okhla will process 700 tonnes and 1,400 tonnes per day, respectively. A 1,200 tonne per day facility is planned at Narela Bawana.
Officials said tendering for the projects has been completed and work orders have been issued. The aim is to divert fresh waste before it reaches landfill sites helping the civic body flatten existing dumpsites in a time bound manner.
Delhi currently generates around 12,847 tonnes of municipal waste every day. About 7,642 tonnes per day is processed at the city’s four existing waste to energy plants, leaving a substantial quantity requiring further treatment or disposal.
The MCD has highlighted the difference between legacy waste at existing landfills and newly generated household waste. Legacy waste is largely dry and contains around 60 per cent inert material, making it suitable for processing through conventional trommel machines. Fresh household waste, however, is predominantly wet and mixed and cannot be efficiently processed through existing bio-mining systems.
To address this, the civic body plans to deploy larger capacity trommel units capable of handling wet waste as part of its fresh waste processing strategy.
The new facilities are intended to reduce the continued dumping of fresh municipal waste and create conditions for the gradual remediation and flattening of Delhi’s major landfill sites at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla.
The DDA also approved a separate land-use change for 752.51 square metres at Pocket-B of the Integrated Freight Complex Ghazipur. The land will be converted from “Public and Semi Public” use to recreational use to provide compensatory green cover for the land being utilised by the waste management project.
The initiative comes as Delhi faces the challenge of managing growing quantities of municipal waste while reducing dependence on overflowing landfill sites. Successful implementation of the planned facilities will be crucial to improving waste diversion, strengthening processing capacity and reducing the environmental impact of long-term waste accumulation in the capital.