In the year since massive fires broke out at two of three garbage dumpsites in Delhi last summer, the landfills have starred in an election campaign, been the subject of two key National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders and featured in several promises on their removal. The dumpsites — one each at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla — still stand, as imposing as ever.
In March 2022, a large fire had broken out at the Ghazipur dumpsite while there were fires at both Ghazipur and Bhalswa in April. Last year, high temperatures set in earlier than they did this year, with heat wave conditions even at the end of March.
A report submitted by an NGT-constituted joint committee last July, after the Tribunal had taken cognizance of the long-drawn fire at the Ghazipur dumpsite, had offered some suggestions: installing spark arresters; laying pipelines at the dumpsite to release methane; increasing number of tankers to sprinkle water; ensuring adequate water storage capacity and pumps at the dumpsite to douse fires; CCTVs; methane detectors; temperature sensors and fire alarms; jetting machines to keep vulnerable areas damp; construction of roads around the dumpsite to allow movement of fire tenders and patrolling; and plantation in areas that are cleared.
The committee, chaired by Justice SP Garg, former judge of the Delhi High Court, comprised representatives of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the erstwhile East MCD, Delhi Police, and Delhi Disaster Management Authority. It was required to consider fire and other disaster management plans for the Ghazipur dumpsite.
The suggestions, including that of ensuring segregation of waste, were presented to the committee by officials from DPCC and MCD who visited the Gorai and Deonar dumpsites in Mumbai last year in the hope of learning from there. Going by their report, these dumpsites had pipelines placed for the release of methane.
Last April, Environment Minister Gopal Rai had also said a “gas sucking system” to absorb methane emissions will be set up at the Ghazipur landfill to deal with fire incidents.
A representative of the Delhi Fire Services had also said a water storage tank with a capacity of 5 lakh litres should be installed along with at least three pumps at the dumpsite.
The NGT report had also said surface fires can be reduced by covering the landfill with a layer of non-combustible material like soil or construction material.
Ground report
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has offered some responses on what has been done so far to prepare for a fire outbreak or mitigate the chances of one.
In response to questions sent to the MCD, a senior official said the dumpsites have “adequate number of CCTVs for 24×7 monitoring; adequate illumination by providing electricity poles around the dumpsites; round-the-clock deployment of machines and supervision by officials; and joint drill and training with MCD staff and fire department”.
The official also said the fire department has ensured “a dedicated fire tender at the nearest fire station” and that all vehicles coming into the dumpsite for garbage disposal are fitted with spark arresters.
The official further said pipelines for methane collection were installed earlier at Ghazipur in association with GAIL (before these recommendations were made last year), but they were not found to be successful: “There wasn’t much gas generation in this case. What we have done now is that temporarily in the summer, perforated PVC pipes have been placed in areas where fresh waste is being dumped at Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfills. In case there is methane accumulation there, that will be released.”
On temperature sensors, the MCD official said, “The temperature is being measured at Ghazipur, and a register is being maintained with records of the temperature time-to-time. But it may not be very effective.”
Area has been earmarked along the periphery of these sites to carry out plantation as a bio-fence, he said, adding that water tankers have been stationed at the landfills, on stand-by, and that fresh waste is being covered from time-to-time with non-combustible material.
“It may not be possible to avoid these fires altogether. The key is to control them quickly, and for that, monitoring is important. The concessionaires who are carrying out biomining at these sites have also been sensitised since their staff is on ground. We are considering a hooter or siren for an alert if the staff on ground spots a fire,” the official said.
Data with the DPCC shows that four water sprinklers or tankers are stationed at each of the three landfills, and 10 perforated pipes have been placed at Ghazipur for methane. While Ghazipur has around 22 CCTV cameras, the Okhla landfill is the most watched with 35 cameras, followed by Bhalswa with 31.
According to experts, fresh waste being dumped at the sites can also spark fires.
Richa Singh, who is part of the municipal solid waste programme at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “When fresh, biodegradable waste begins to decompose in anaerobic conditions (absence of oxygen), releasing methane, and temperatures are high, there are chances of fire outbreaks again, as methane is flammable… Dumping of fresh waste is the problem. Waste that’s already lying there can be dealt with by preventive mechanisms like covering it with soil or inert material.”
Atin Biswas, who is also part of the municipal solid waste programme at CSE, pointed out that installing pipes to collect methane may not help with Delhi’s dumpsites considering that they are not scientifically designed.
To clear landfills, legacy waste or old waste that has been lying at these sites for decades is being processed by biomining, where it is excavated and passed through screening machines or trommels that can separate materials.
Fires can also break out during this process, Singh explained: “Even in legacy waste, there can be pockets where methane has accumulated… During biomining, provisions for fire control and emergency planning need to be made, as heavy equipment and excavators are used, and these dumpsites are very prone to fires.”
Meeting targets
What sort of progress has been made on solid waste management in a year?
Data submitted by DPCC to the Ministry of Jal Shakti in March, as a progress report for February, shows that the city generates 11,328 TPD (tonnes per day) of waste, and existing processing capacity of waste, including material recovery facilities for recyclables, is 8,228 TPD — around 72.64% of waste generated.
The municipal solid waste that is being processed is around 7,802 TPD, which is 68.88% of the waste generated, and 3,525 TPD fresh waste is being dumped at the landfill sites every day, the DPCC report shows.
On segregation of waste, the DPCC report claims areas under New Delhi Municipal Council segregate 100% of waste, while segregation is at 100% in only 12 wards of MCD, 10%-20% in 29 wards, 20%-40% in 46 wards, and 40%-60% in 81 wards. It is around 80%-100% in 70 wards, as per the report.
These figures are a little different from a presentation on solid waste management made by the MCD to the CM earlier this month. While the presentation states that the city generates 11,000 TPD, it said processing capacity is 8,166 TPD, and 2,834 TPD is being dumped at the dumpsites.
As per the presentation, 17.72 lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Ghazipur has been processed till April 4, ever since biomining began in 2019. This is around 12.6% of the total quantity of 140 lakh tonnes of legacy waste that was lying at the site in 2019.
The process has fared better at Okhla and Bhalswa. At Okhla, smallest of the three dumpsites, 26.95 lakh tonnes of legacy waste has been processed till April 4, out of an estimated 60 lakh tonnes in 2019, which is around 44% of the legacy waste. At Bhalswa, 31.69 lakh tonnes has been processed, out of 80 lakh tonnes of legacy waste (around 39% of the legacy waste has been processed so far).
The target to complete remediation of the landfills is May 2024. CM Arvind Kejriwal had said last month that Okhla landfill is likely to be cleared by December, and Delhi will be free of these dumpsites in 2024.
Can Delhi meet its target to clear the landfills? The presentation shows that on April 5, 8,379 tonnes of waste was biomined at Bhalswa, 5,871 tonnes at Okhla, and 1,931 tonnes at Ghazipur. The target is to process 10,000 TPD at Bhalswa and Okhla daily, and 6,500 TPD at Ghazipur.
Singh said, “At Okhla, it may still be possible to clear the dumpsite by next year, clearing around 30 lakh tonnes in around 14 months. It may not be possible to process the waste during the monsoon months. If we need to clear the sites by 2024, how much we can treat in a day and the machines installed at the sites are important. If they are dumping fresh waste at these sites, they will have to deal with that quantity too.”
In March 2022, a large fire had broken out at the Ghazipur dumpsite while there were fires at both Ghazipur and Bhalswa in April. File 
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