Deadline to remediate all legacy landfills now pushed to Dec 2027

Why in the News

The target for clearing all of India’s legacy landfills has moved from October 2026, the original end of Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0, to December 2027. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) had planned to remove every legacy dumpsite within the Mission’s five year period. Over 1,000 lakh tonnes of old waste is yet to be cleared, and the extended Mission itself runs only till March 2027.

What is a legacy landfill, and what did the Mission promise?

1. What it is: A legacy landfill is a dumpsite where a city’s mixed waste has piled up unprocessed for years. It is like a backlog of garbage the city never cleared.
2. Remediation: Remediation means treating and removing the old waste, so that the land under it is reclaimed for use.
3. Mission commitment: Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0, launched in 2021, planned to remove all legacy dumpsites across cities within its five year period.
4. The takeaway: The original Mission period has ended with over a third of the old waste still on the ground.

What has changed in the timeline?

1. Original end date: The Mission was to continue until 1 October 2026.
2. Mission extension: The Mission has been extended till March 2027, but the remediation target now sits nine months beyond that.
3. Staggered completion: Most remaining landfills are expected to be cleared by the end of the extended Mission. Some will take until the new target date.

How much legacy waste has been cleared so far?

1. Sites cleared: Of 2,607 dumpsites on the Mission dashboard, 1,402 have been completely remediated.
2. Sites pending: Work is ongoing at 1,057 sites, and 148 sites show no progress.
3. Waste and land recovered: 64% of the waste quantity has been remediated and 70% of the area reclaimed.
4. Total legacy waste: The sites together held 3,135 lakh tonnes of waste spread over about 15,545 acres.
5. Waste still to be cleared: 1,139 lakh tonnes of waste over 4,632 acres remains to be remediated.

Which sites are holding up the target?

1. Bhalswa, Delhi: The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister said work at Bhalswa would be “completed by December 31”. Fresh waste still reaches the site and will be processed separately.
2. Okhla and Ghazipur, Delhi: The Okhla site is almost clear. Ghazipur will take one more year.
3. Deonar, Mumbai: Authorities recently began trials to remove waste from Deonar, considered one of the oldest and largest legacy landfills in Asia.
4. Concentrated backlog: MoHUA launched the Dumpsite Remediation Accelerator Programme last year to speed up work at 214 sites holding 80% of the waste yet to be remediated.

Challenges

1. Fresh waste inflow: New waste keeps arriving at sites under remediation, so cleared land fills up again. Eg. Bhalswa in Delhi.
2. Large city sites: A small group of big dumpsites holds most of the remaining waste, and these are the slowest to clear.
3. Stalled sites: Some dumpsites on the dashboard show no progress at all.
4. Target beyond the Mission: The remediation target now runs past the Mission’s extended term, which leaves funding and monitoring for the final months unclear.

Way Forward

1. Processing of daily waste: Urban local bodies should segregate and process fresh waste, so that none reaches a dumpsite under remediation.
2. Site wise deadlines: MoHUA should publish a completion date for each site under the accelerator programme.
3. Funding for the final phase: The Centre should state how remediation after the Mission’s extended term will be financed.
4. Use of reclaimed land: Cities should assign reclaimed land to waste processing plants or green cover, so that dumping does not restart.

Conclusion

Most dumpsites are cleared, but the largest ones have pushed the finish line beyond the Mission built to clear them. The dashboard count at the close of the extended Mission will show whether the new target holds.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2019] As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in India, which one of the following statements is correct? (a) Waste generator has to segregate waste into five categories. (b) The Rules are applicable to riotified urban local bodies, notified towns and all industrial townships only. (c) The Rules provide for exact and elaborate criteria for the identification of sites for landfills and waste processing facilities. (d) It is mandatory on the part of waste generator that the waste generated in one district cannot be moved to another district. ANSWER: (c)”