Government sets June 30 deadline for more than 10.7k tons of garbage on rails

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was informed on Monday by the environment department of the Delhi government that approximately 17,293 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) had been removed from the city’s railway tracks. The remaining 10,787 metric tons, the majority of which were waste from vegetable and fruit markets, will be cleared by June 30.

In order to prevent companies from disposing of waste alongside railroad tracks, the environment department also stated that there was not enough room to establish a waste management facility at Azadpur wholesale market. However, efforts are being made to investigate the possibility of establishing one close to all of Delhi’s main vegetable and fruit markets.

A clear image of whether organic trash, plastics, and other rubbish had been removed from the Azadpur-Narela railway lines had to be obtained by the Delhi government, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and Indian Railways, according to a directive issued by the NHRC in September of last year during a hearing on air pollution.
According to statistics gathered by the environment department, there were 28,080 tonnes of MSW totaling along the 105-km rail section.

Of these, 17,293 metric tons had already been removed, and the remaining amount was scheduled to be cleared by June 30. The majority of the 10,787 metric tons that were waiting to be removed were in the MCD’s Karol Bagh zone (10,497 metric tons), which was followed by City Sadar Paharganj (202), Keshav Puram (81 metric tons), and the Narela zone (9 metric tons). The central, Shahdara north, Shahdara south, Najafgarh, Civil Lines, and Rohini zones have previously had their waste removed.

The Delhi government was instructed to notify the NHRC of the difficulties encountered while moving the trash. The Delhi government told the panel that some of the main issues were the lack of access points, the MSW that was dispersed over large areas, the fact that residents of the jhuggi continued to throw trash along the track and in other places, and the impossibility of mechanically removing such a large amount of MSW.

The environment department said that land was a problem at the Azadpur market since the NHRC had requested that the state government submit an action plan to stop garbage from vegetable or fruit markets from being disposed of on railroad lines. Garbage cannot be dumped in the 15-foot-tall border wall of the Azadpur market yard, which is located next to the Adarsh Nagar station beside the railway lines. However, as determined during the joint inspection carried out on January 19, an RCC wall has been built at the entrance and departure point between the property owned by the Agriculture Produce and Livestock Market Committee (APMC) and the DDA’s transport center plot, according to the department’s report.

Regarding the placement of waste processors close to significant fruit and vegetable markets, the potential of MSW plants—which need very specific planning—was being investigated. Following the lifting of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections, a tender may be released.