Landfill policy in the offing soon?

New Delhi, Feb. 11: The government will soon come up with a policy on management of landfill sites in the country, a top official of the environment ministry has said.

The development assumes significance after the cave- in incident at the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi in which two persons were killed, triggering a debate on safety concerns and waste management.

“We are working on guidelines for management of landfill site and very soon, we will come up with a policy on that,” Environment Secretary C. K. Mishra said.

He said the policy will address the concerns raised after the Ghazipur incident.

A part of the massive dump had caved in September, prompting the lieutenant governor ( LG) to order the site for waste dumping to shut.

The Ghazipur landfill is the oldest of its kind in the capital. It was started in 1984 and is spread over 29 acres.

According to officials, the permissible height for a garbage dump is 20 metres. Every day, 2,500 metric tonnes of garbage is disposed at the site.

Following the incident, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation ( EDMC) and IIT- Delhi had joined hands to work on measures to stabilise the Ghazipur landfill, for a period of one year. The other major dumping sites are in Okhla in south Delhi and Narela- Bawana in north- west Delhi.

Post the cave- in incident, leader of Congress in the NDMC Mukesh Goel, had hit out at the BJP- led corporation and said the “situation of Bhalswa site is explosive” and if the waste dumping was not stopped there, there would be protests.

EDMC Mayor Neema Bhagat said the 45- metre high landfill at Ghazipur was saturated in 2002 only, and the civic body has been “looking for an alternative site for long time, but a clearance from the NGT is needed”.