MCD plans tree plantation on reclaimed Okhla landfill land in Delhi

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will launch a tree plantation drive on more than 20 acres of reclaimed land at the Okhla landfill site as it moves closer to clearing the decades-old garbage mound, officials said Friday.

The plantation drive to turn the landfill sites into green zones will begin on land reclaimed after biomining the waste, with civic officials saying the site is on course to eliminate the mountains of garbage and fresh waste before December this year.

According to officials, around 23 acres of the original 1996 dumpsite have already been reclaimed, which is more than one-third of the total area.

During an inspection of the site last week, Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi said the processing of legacy (old) waste was almost complete, with only about a week’s work remaining.

“The legacy waste has been almost remediated. Work has started on the fresh waste that is coming in,” Wahi had said.

Officials said all legacy waste generated before January 1, 2025, has been processed, and the focus has now shifted to handling fresh waste reaching the site.

Expressing confidence that the target would be met, Wahi said the landfill would be cleared before December.

“After coming here, I am satisfied that we are close to achieving our target. As you can see, 23 acres have already been freed from garbage,” he said during the visit.

Officials said the civic body has set December 2026 as the deadline to completely clear the Okhla landfill, although monsoon may slow the biomining process.

According to officials, discussions are at an advanced stage about removing certain structures, creating boundaries around reclaimed areas and launching plantations to convert the cleared land into a green cover. Biomining uses trommel machines to segregate legacy waste into reusable and disposable components such as plastic, paper, cloth, sand and construction materials.

The exercise at Delhi’s landfill sites began following directions issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in July 2019, which asked civic bodies to reclaim landfill land through biomining and bioremediation.

Officials said the MCD had about 9.9 million tonnes of waste across its three landfill sites as of June. Of this, the Okhla landfill accounted for 1.23 million tonnes, Bhalswa for 1.84 million tonnes, and Ghazipur for 6.9 million tonnes. In all, around 73 acres have been reclaimed across the three landfill sites.

At its peak in 2019, accumulated waste reached a height of 60 metres at the Okhla landfill, which initially spread across a 62-acre site.