"By end of 2026, we will end legacy waste in garbage mountains at Okhla, Bhalaswa": Delhi CM

New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday expressed confidence that the legacy waste at the Okhla and Bhalaswa landfill sites will be cleared by the end of this year.
In an interview with ANI, the Chief Minister said that that the BJP government has ramped up bio-mining capacity to over 30,000 metric tonnes daily.
She said the legacy waste at the Ghazipur landfill site will take about two years to be cleared.
"I want to tell people of Delhi that by the end of 2026, we will end the legacy waste of two garbage mountains in Okhla and Bhalaswa. The Ghazipur landfill site might take two more years. We are building plants so that as much of the generated waste is processed. We are working by segregating the legacy waste," she said.
Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), she said that their government was in power in Delhi for 11 years and did little to address problems of people.
"I can also ask how the garbage mountains were built. The garbage kept accumulating, and hence these mountains were formed. We started processing it (the waste), we started bio-mining, which was earlier at 5000 metric tonnes, and we brought it to 30,000 metric tonnes daily. Work goes on in day-night shifts," she said.
"The inert (waste), RDF (refuse-derived fuel), are put in the low-lying areas. This has been going on for ages. But in your (AAP) tenure, there was no biomining. When an industry requests us for inert, we transport it there. When the inert gets aside, then only you get the room to process the garbage. Otherwise, how has the height of the garbage mountains reduced to half? The previous government did not think of putting in biogas plants. Thousands of tonnes of cow dung are generated in cities. Where does it go? In sewers and the Yanuma River. Did the city not need a biogas plant? We are working on processing 1500 tonnes of cow dung," she told ANI.
Answering a query, she said air pollution and pollution of the Yamuna river are "legacy problems" caused by years of neglect and "short-term policymaking by the previous AAP government", asserting that her administration is pursuing a comprehensive, long-term strategy to address both challenges.
Pollution is a legacy problem resulting from the negligence of previous governments. If we look at pollution only from the perspective that the air should be clean, we will not get results. You have to work on dust, air and water together, with a holistic vision," she said.
Taking a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Gupta said previous administrations relied heavily on temporary relief measures and publicity, while ignoring structural reforms.
"Sprinklers, anti-smog guns and mist can give only short-term relief. The real work should have been done on dust mitigation, public transport and long-term planning," she said.
The Chief Minister identified vehicular emissions, road dust and waste mismanagement as key contributors to Delhi's air pollution.
"Vehicular emission is said to be a major cause of pollution, but public transport was never taken to the extent it should have been," she said.
Gupta said her government has drawn up a phased plan to move Delhi's public transport system towards zero emissions. "When we came, we planned that public transport should be 100 per cent electric and on clean fuel. Today, there are around 3,600 buses in Delhi. We added 1,700 buses after coming to power, and by December 2026, this will reach 7,700. Our requirement is 11,000 buses, which we will complete by 2028," she said. (ANI)