AAP Vs MCD Over Waste Management: Can Delhi Clear Its Garbage Mountain Ever?
Has the Garbage management system in Delhi failed? This question is looming large over the city-state as the height of the garbage dumpsite of Ghazipur has increased to the level, where it is really difficult to manage it. The height of Ghazipur dumpsite was 65 meters or 213 feet high in 2019, just eight meters short of Qutub Minar. According to the data shared by the MCD, about 280 lakh tonnes of waste has been dumped on the three dumpsites, with 140 lakh tonnes on the Ghazipur site alone.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi Writes To MCD
Raising an alarm over the issue, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi wrote a letter to the MCD Commissioner. Expressing her concerns over the issue, she wrote, "Are you aware of this fact that waste collection agencies under MCD have stopped doing daily door-to-door collection of municipal waste in many localities of Delhi? If so, what is the extent of this problem?"
She asked further, "What are the reasons behind the lack of performance by the waste collection agencies? What are the measures that need to be taken to ensure a time-bound resolution of this matter that poses a great risk to the health and hygiene of lakhs of residents across Delhi?"
10,00 Tonnes Of Garbage Dumped Daily
According to 'The Guardian', more than 10,000 tonnes of Delhi’s waste are dumped every day in the rubbish dumps of Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla. It may contain anything from vegetable peelings to glass bottles, plastic packaging, batteries, broken toys, and torn clothes.
Methane Generated At Dumpsites
More than half of the rubbish is dumped daily on the three dumpsites of Delhi. But there is no mechanism of separating the wet waste from the dry ones and so it decomposes, generating huge amounts of Methane, a greenhouse gas. As there is no system of capturing the gas thus generated at these dumpsites, this greenhouse gas goes up in the air.
Dumpsites Abetting Global Warming
Expressing concerns over the issue, the experts have said that Methane generated at waste dumps, fossil fuel sites, and livestock is responsible for 25% of global warming. They have also pointed out that if India, the country of more than 1.4 billion people fails to bring its methane emissions under control, it could turn out to be the biggest threat to keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C above preindustrial levels.
'The Guardian' has reported that the satellite data collated by Kayrros suggests that Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla have become vast Methane reservoirs. As many as 37 major incidents of methane leak have been reported in Ghazipur, the worst occurred in November 2021 when 156 tonnes an hour were recorded.
