New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, on Monday visited the Bhalswa landfill site to review the progress of ongoing bioremediation efforts and assess measures being taken to manage legacy waste as well as fresh garbage inflow at the site.

During the visit, the Lt Governor noted that while considerable progress has been achieved over the past year in the remediation of solid waste at the Bhalswa landfill, Ghazipur and Okhla sites, sustained and accelerated efforts are still required to address the long-standing challenge of waste accumulation in the national Capital.

He recalled that the three major landfill sites were earlier flagged as “mountains of garbage” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following which large-scale bioremediation work was initiated in 2022. Since then, multiple agencies have been engaged in processing legacy waste, but officials acknowledged that complete restoration of these sites remains a long-term task.

The Lt Governor advised the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to explore advanced global technologies in waste management, and to adopt international benchmarks and expert consultations in order to improve efficiency and speed of operations. He stressed that adopting modern and proven practices could help Delhi significantly reduce its landfill burden in a time-bound manner.

He also directed civic authorities to not only focus on clearing accumulated legacy waste but also take strict measures to control the continuous inflow of fresh garbage at these sites. Emphasising the need for systemic improvements, he called for stronger enforcement of waste segregation at source across the city.

Highlighting the role of resident welfare associations and market trader associations, the Lt Governor urged the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to intensify outreach and engagement efforts to ensure that households and commercial establishments segregate waste into dry and wet categories. He said effective segregation would facilitate faster processing and improve the outcomes of bioremediation initiatives.

Given the approaching summer season, he placed special emphasis on preventive measures to avoid fire incidents at landfill sites, directing authorities to strengthen safety protocols and monitoring systems to mitigate such risks.

During his visit, Sandhu also interacted with workers engaged at the landfill site and took stock of their working conditions. He instructed concessionaires and implementing agencies to ensure that all necessary health and safety safeguards are provided to workers on priority.

--IANS

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