Bhalswa Landfill Cleanup: How Delhi Is Dismantling Its Garbage Mountain

For decades, Bhalswa landfill stood as one of Delhi's most visible symbols of the city's waste problem, with millions of tonnes of garbage accumulating across the sprawling dumpsite. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is now attempting to dismantle the waste mountain through a large-scale biomining and waste-processing operation.

The 70-acre Bhalswa landfill is one of Delhi's three major dumpsites. According to the latest official update cited in the report, 99.07 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste had been cleared by July 31, with the remaining mound targeted for removal by October 15. The broader deadline for completely clearing the dumpsite has been set for December 31, 2026.

The process involves excavating old waste and mechanically separating it into different categories rather than simply transporting the garbage elsewhere. The largest share, around 65-75% of the material processed each day, is inert waste, a soil-like residue left after screening.

Around 8-10% consists of construction and demolition waste such as broken concrete, bricks and other building material. The remaining portion includes Refuse-Derived Fuel, or RDF, which is combustible material that can be used as an alternative to coal in industrial facilities such as paper mills and cement factories.

The inert material is transported to low-lying areas in parts of Delhi, including Narela and Rohini, where it is used to fill sunken ground. RDF is transported to paper mills and cement plants in and around Delhi, where it can be used as fuel for industrial furnaces.

Bhalswa's waste has also been an environmental and safety concern. Decomposing garbage produces methane, a combustible gas that can contribute to landfill fires. A major fire at the site in April 2022 continued for nearly two weeks. A subsequent study found that average PM2.5 levels increased by 45-55% and PM10 levels by 40-50% during the blaze.

The cleanup operation faces several challenges. Rain can turn the landfill into muddy terrain, while extreme heat can slow down work. At the same time, fresh garbage continues to reach the site, with around 4,000 tonnes arriving each day.

In mid-August, between 12,000 and 14,000 tonnes of old waste were reportedly being processed daily. A government review in May had indicated that around 15,000 tonnes were being processed each day. Nearly 43 acres of the 70-acre site had been cleared at that stage, while around 23.17 lakh metric tonnes of old and newly added waste remained.

The scale of the task becomes clearer when compared with the situation in June 2022, when Bhalswa contained roughly 73 lakh metric tonnes of old waste and round-the-clock clearance work began.

Bhalswa is part of Delhi's wider landfill remediation effort. The MCD has committed to clearing the Bhalswa and Okhla landfills by 2026, while the target for Ghazipur is 2027.

As the operation continues, the garbage mountain is gradually being reduced through excavation, sorting and redistribution. The waste is not simply disappearing; different materials are being processed and sent to locations where they can be used as fill, industrial fuel or other recovered material. Whether the entire Bhalswa site can be cleared by the December 31 deadline will determine the scale of the transformation achieved this year.