Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said from now on, modern technology will be used for managing solid waste and no new mountains of garbage will be allowed to take shape.
"Fresh garbage being generated should not become a mountain of garbage at landfill sites. No country in the world disposes off garbage this way ... its an ancient way," Kejriwal told the media after holding a meeting with Lt Governor Anil Baijal here.
The Chief Minister said: "Modern technology to manage solid waste will be used now. Garbage compactors have been ordered and waste-to-energy plant will be built. Garbage will directly go there, but all this will take some time. Till then landfill sites will have to be used."
Kejriwal said he had asked the Lt Governor if some scientists and companies could be consulted on how this mountain of garbage should be cleaned or disposed of. "Most important thing is there should be no fresh mountain of garbage," he added.
A day after a huge portion of a landfill in east Delhi's Ghazipur collapsed causing two deaths, Baijal on Saturday banned dumping of solid waste at the site.
The LG held an emergency meeting for immediate measures to be taken in view of Friday's garbage slide incident and ordered an immediate halt to dumping of solid waste at the landfill and clearing the site within two years.
Kejriwal said he met the Lt Governor and it had been decided that no fresh garbage would be dumped in Ghazipur and Bhalswa landfill sites.
"Two landfill sites, one each in north and east Delhi, have been identified and fresh garbage will be dumped there. The existing garbage dumps will be used by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)," he said.
The Lt Governor also said that the NHAI would begin the process of lifting, segregating and processing the solid waste by November 2017, for which requisite processes were being fast-tracked, Kejriwal said.
The dumped waste would be used for construction of service roads and the entire landfill site would be cleared within two years.
On Friday afternoon, two persons, including a woman, were killed when a huge portion of the landfill in Ghazipur collapsed.
The collapsed mound's debris swept away a car and a two-wheeler, along with their riders, into the nearby Kondli canal.
The Ghazipur landfill is among the four dump sites in the national capital and the collected waste had reached a height of 50 metres, as tall as a 15-storey building.
--IANS
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