An overview of solid waste management system in Delhi

Delhi is the second most populous city and second most populous urban agglomeration in India and 3rd largest urban area in the world. The population of India is expected to rise from 1029 million to 1400 million during the period 2001–2026, an increase of 36% in 26 years, at the rate of 3.35% annually. In Delhi, during the last two decades (1991–2011) the annual growth rate in population was almost double the national average. It is also a commercial hub, with a lot of employment opportunities that has accelerated the pace of urbanization and increased the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation. At present the residents of Delhi generate about 7000 tonnes/day of MSW, which has been projected to increase to about 17,000–25,000 tonnes/day by end of 2021. The solid waste management in Delhi has remained one of the most neglected areas of the Delhi Municipal Corporation. Nearly about 70–80% of generated solid wastes are collected and the rest remains unattended on the roadside, streets or small open dumps. Just about 9% of the collected MSW is treated through composting and rest is disposed off in open landfill sites at the outskirts of Delhi. Due to several operational problems, the existing composting plants are unable to function at their optimum treatment capacity. Therefore, the bulk of MSW along with residual wastes from the composting process is disposed off in landfills. Due to absence of landfill gas collection systems and of leachate, these landfills sites have become the main source of groundwater contamination and air pollution (toxic and greenhouse gases). This paper is an attempt to understand and describe the status of municipal solid waste management in Delhi, summarizes the legal provisions to manage waste, proposed policies, measures and initiatives of the Municipal Corporations and Government of Delhi to improve the present condition of MSW management system.