With the project of phasing out of garbage collection points in its final leg, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has shut a total of 311 dhalaos, three-walled open structures, while adding 79fixed compactor transfer stations (FCTS), according to data available till March 3.
Aimed at improving waste management, the FCTS are mechanised units, which can process higher volumes of waste — almost equivalent to the amount of garbage generated at three to four dhalaos.
According to the latest data, the North body has 296 dhalaos operating in six zones – Karol Bagh, City-SP, Narela, Rohini, Civil Lines and Keshavpuram – of which 47 more will be shut.
A senior North body official said a total of 24 FCTs will be installed by the end of March, in at least three zones: Keshav Puram (5), Rohini (11) and Civil Lines (8).
When asked about the remaining 30 FCTs that are to be installed in the remaining zones, the official said that the “work regarding these projects was awarded in January, and it takes four months from that point”.
The North body’s Standing Committee Chairman, Jogi Ram Jain, refused to comment on the civic body’s progress regarding the mechanisation of garbage collection points.
Waste Segregation
While the civic body had announced a complete ban on the collection of non-segregated waste — from households and commercial establishments — from November 1, another senior official said that the progress has been marginal.
The official added, “The number of violations has been in the thousands, and people are not following rules despite the municipality placing dedicated bins. There is some progress, and we are aiming to get a better score in the next annual cleanliness survey, but people have to segregate their waste at the doorstep for which we are trying our best.”
In the annual cleanliness rankings for the years 2020 and 2021, the North civic body was placed at 43 (out of 47) and 45 (out of 48), respectively; while they failed to score a single point in the garbage free category.
A total of 99 illegal dumping sites have been identified while only 14 have been shut. The zones with the highest number of dumping sites are Narela (56) and Karol Bagh (23), while only seven and three of these sites have been closed, respectively.
