Lack of MCD standing committee behind delay in waste removal at Okhla landfill: CM Kejriwal

“The process of hiring a second agency is almost complete. However, the delay is due to non-formation of the standing committee in the MCD. The matter is in the Supreme Court. Once the court’s order is received, the committee will be constituted, and a second agency will be hired,” he said.

The standing committee is an 18-member decision-making body that effectively manages the corporation, with functions such as providing financial approval to projects, discussing, finalising and implementing policies, among others.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi, who was also present during the landfill visit, said round-the-clock work was underway to make Delhi garbage-free. “If anyone sees the garbage hills now, they can say that the height has been significantly reduced,” she added.

Meanwhile, hitting out at the AAP, the BJP Delhi unit said the Kejriwal government and the MCD have “totally failed Delhi” in the matter of clearance of landfill sites.

“It was shocking to see CM Kejriwal admit that the work is very slow and far behind schedule. Delhiites now very well know how hollow AAP’s claims on landfill site clearance were,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said in his statement to the press.

Notably, while presenting its election manifesto for the civic body elections, the AAP had promised that the “mountain of garbage” in Okhla would be cleared by December 2023. The MCD had later pushed the deadline to March 2024.

As against its target of 18 lakh MT, the MCD has cleared only 12 lakh MT of garbage by the ongoing fourth quarter.