Visiting the Bhalswa landfill in Delhi on Wednesday — the start of the government’s ninth annual nationwide sanitation drive — Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar requested those in positions of power to adopt dumpsites and clean them up.
He also announced that Rs 5,000 will be given to workers at all three dumpsites in Delhi before Diwali for their work, and a health check-up will be organised for them in the next two-three days.
The minister, who had ‘adopted’ Bhalswa on Monday, said the site will be cleared by December next year.
“I request the people in power to adopt (landfill) sites and clean them up. We have around 1,470 such sites in India, out of which three are in Delhi — Okhla, Ghazipur and Bhalswa — which I’ll ensure is cleared up soon,” he said, adding that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will be partnering with Bhalswa landfill and has agreed to provide land for cleanup efforts.
Khattar said the 15-day Swachhata Hi Seva campaign starts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday and includes the birth anniversaries of Deen Dayal Upadhyay on September 25 and Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on October 2. Under this, multiple cleanliness drives will be organised.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Ashish Sood, Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, MCD Standing Committee chairperson Satya Sharma, and other officials of the department were also present on the occasion, and took part in a plantation drive post inspection.
“During my inspection, I found that 25 acres of land at the site have been emptied, and a bamboo plantation has been established on 5 acres. So far, fresh waste and legacy waste are being processed at the same spot. But we are planning to give separate contracts to manage fresh waste, and the remaining 45 lakh MT legacy waste will be cleared up soon,” Manohar Lal said.
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He added that refuse-derived fuel, construction & demolition waste and plastic waste produced at the site are used for multiple purposes, while the manure produced is used by the horticulture departments of MCD, NDMC and DDA.
The Delhi government will soon visit the other two landfill sites. According to officials, the group will inspect around 20 acres of DDA land after this inspection.
Mayor Singh said a lot has already been achieved in a short time. “We’re planning on how to clear the landfill soon; we have reduced at least 15-20 metres of its height. Earlier, there was 73 MT of legacy waste when we started working; now, nearly 48 MT is left. By December 2026, there will be zero waste here,” he said.
Sharma echoed him. “We plan to achieve clearance of the landfill site before the set target.”
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The Union Minister, meanwhile, added that on September 25, the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, a cleanliness drive — ‘ek din, ek ghanta, ek saath’ — will be carried out at offices, homes and public places across the country.
