‘In Delhi, 3,000 tonnes of untreated solid waste generated daily’: Supreme Court says situation ‘shocking’

During the hearing, the NCT government submitted that the current processing capacity is only about 8,000 tonnes. The court said, “As of today, the generation of municipal solid waste in the MCD area is 11,000 tonnes per day. The gap in the generation of solid waste and processing capacity is about 3,000 tonnes per day… This is a shocking state of affairs.”

It said in its order, “We expected the Delhi government and all authorities to come out with innovative measures to bridge this gap. One can imagine the drastic effect of the generation of 3,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, which remains untreated, on the environment.”

Justice Oka observed orally, “See, what we expect is this is a very disastrous situation in the capital city. Therefore, no point in having heated debates in the court. This is actually, to say the least, shameful. In the capital city, this happens.”

The order added, “With some degree of sadness, we are recording that in the capital city, every day, 3,000 tonnes of solid waste is being generated, which is not capable of being treated, and, therefore, there is illegal dumping. Perhaps someday, this court will have to take a call of stopping some kind of development activities in the city so that generation of solid waste can be controlled.”

Noting that the affidavit filed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) pointed out that 3,800 tonnes of solid waste per day is being dumped at Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfills, the court said, “We expect the Delhi government to come out with measures for preventing fires and generation of pollution due to illegal dumping of 3,800 tonnes of solid waste every day at these two sites.”

It asked the Chief Secretary and all other entities to deal with the question as to what precautions are being taken to avoid fires as well. “We hope and trust that drastic effects of such illegal dumping of large extent every day will be considered by all authorities with all the sincerity which it deserves,” it added.

The court asked the Delhi government or MCD to file on or before January 15, a detailed affidavit on the measures to be taken at dumping sites at Ghazipur and Bhalswa. It also sought data on how many incidents of fires at dumping sites have taken place during the last year and what steps were taken to prevent them.

It further asked the NCT government to file a better affidavit as regards non-compliance with Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. “The Delhi government must explain with the reference to specific rules and timelines laid down in 2016 Rules about the extent of compliance made.”