Clean Ghazipur landfill fast, stresses Parl panel

New Delhi: Taking note of slow progress to tackle the mount of garbage at Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi, a parliamentary committee has recommended expeditious remediation of the site on lines of Indore Municipal Corporation and convert it into a park.
The standing committee on urban development has recommended the agencies concerned to begin biomining at the site to reduce the waste. Bio-mining is a technique of extraction and segregation of minerals and useful material from mounds of waste.This can be used to extract materials like plastic, rubber, metals and gases.
East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had informed the committee that efforts were being made to remediate the Ghazipur landfill site on line of Indore Municipal Corporation. But the legacy (old) waste at Indore was only 13 lakh tonnes whereas at Ghazipur it is over 140 lakh tonnes.
In its report, the panel said: “The committee from the post evidence reply finds that as desired by them a visit of commissioner, EDMC, joint secretary in-charge of SBM (U) in MoH&UA along with local MP took place and it was agreed to continue bio-mining of landfill site and use of output for RDF and construction and demolition plants with NHAI agreeing to take initial 5,000 tonnes of soil for road construction. The committee recommend that work be started expeditiously on the pattern of Indore.”
The panel headed by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal also took note of a survey which had highlighted how as high as 80% of public toilets in East Delhi were unusable for want of proper maintenance. “In view of ground reality, the committee does not subscribe to the views of the EDMC and recommends that all-out efforts be made on the part of MoH&UA under sanitation component for required level of maintenance in the affected area,” it said.
The panel also found that out of Rs 5,026 crore worth of funds released for solid waste management in urban areas, barely Rs 3,470 crore were used. It also criticised lower utilisation of funds under Atal Mission and Rejuvenation of Urban Transport scheme, which focusses on water supply and sewage connections.
It also flagged the slow pace of work done on the implementation of reform agenda like replacement of energy efficient lights. The report said that 74 lakh such lights were installed, which is less than the target of 100 lakh.