New Delhi, Oct 17: The national capital generates nearly 15,000 metric tonnes of waste every day, but only 6,000-7,000 metric tonnes could earlier be processed, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Saturday as she inaugurated a waste transfer station in Sarita Vihar and launched a drive to deploy 1,000 mechanical litter-picking machines across Delhi.
The machines will be deployed across all 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), with 50 flagged off in the first phase, according to a government statement.
The government has also appointed 35 women drivers to operate vehicles used for door-to-door waste collection and transportation.
Addressing the gathering, Gupta said waste management remained a major challenge for the national capital and that the government was working on a long-term plan to address the problem.
“Waste management is our top priority; the government is working on a long-term plan for the next 15-30 years,” she said.
Gupta said the gap between the daily waste generated and the quantity processed had contributed to the growth of the city’s landfill sites.
The government is working to set up new waste-to-energy plants, expand the capacity of existing facilities, establish e-waste centres and install biogas plants to process cow dung, she said.
The chief minister said the government was providing the MCD with machinery, equipment and funds to strengthen sanitation services, with the aim of ensuring that waste generated each day was processed and disposed of on the same day.
In the South-East Zone, approval has been granted for 428 auto-tippers, 128 e-rickshaws, 25 Tata 407 vehicles for door-to-door collection, 27 refuse compactors, five additional refuse compactors and 30 hook loaders. The zone also has 100 compactor bins.
The government has additionally provided 1,500 steel dustbins, 300 high-density polyethylene (HDPE) dustbins and 10 tipper trucks for transporting horticultural waste.
Of the 1,000 battery-operated litter-picking machines planned for the MCD, 150 have arrived, while the remaining machines are expected to be delivered within the next month, according to the government.
The machines will help collect small pieces of litter from roads and public spaces and support cleaning operations. Funds have also been provided for 100 mechanical sweeping machines.
Gupta urged residents to use designated collection facilities for unwanted clothes and religious materials instead of discarding them with regular garbage.
The government has set up ‘Arpan’ centres near metro stations to collect old clothes for reuse and recycling. It is also planning immersion kiosks across all 250 MCD wards for the separate collection of broken idols and puja materials. Around 100 such kiosks have already been established, according to the chief minister’s address.
The initiative aims to prevent religious materials from being mixed with regular waste and ensure their separate collection and processing.
Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi said the MCD was working to improve solid waste management and urged residents to segregate wet and dry waste, hand over household garbage through designated collection systems and avoid littering public places.
“A clean environment was the foundation of a better quality of life and a beautiful future,” he said.
