New Delhi: The district magistrate (South) has named Delhi Jal Board and Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the lack of coordination in the allotment of land to set up a waste disposal and management plant in Sangam Vihar.
The report was filed by the administration while apprising National Green Tribunal regarding issues pertaining to solid waste management and lack of hygiene in the area.
The reply came after NGT took suo motu cognizance of a May 2024 TOI report, ‘A Sangam of Filth and Apathy: This Wasteland Actually Exists in Delhi’, highlighting apathy and negligence in Sangam Vihar. The report highlighted issues, among others, such as slow sewer work, poor condition of internal roads and lack of garbage vans.
The tribunal asked the district magistrate to facilitate the identification and allocation of a suitable land for setting up solid waste processing and disposal facilities. However, neither MCD nor DJB approached DM’s office for the allocation of land.
Ward nos. 168, 169 and 170 fall in the jurisdiction of South East district, which is now impleaded as respondent no. 6. Based on the above facts, the report is being submitted before this court for kind consideration, stated a reply from the sub-divisional magistrate, Saket. “The undersigned respectfully assures that the orders/directions passed by this court shall be timely complied with,” it added. The reply, however, was a repetition of an earlier reply made by the SDM in Aug 2024.
Last year, in Aug 2024, MCD, in a reply to NGT, stated that Sangam Vihar generated about 35-40MTD of solid waste while there was no dhalao or secondary collection point in two of its wards due to space crunch. MCD then stated that the space to set up a fixed compactor transfer station was sought from Delhi Development Authority, however, it received no response.
Prior to this, Delhi Pollution Control Committee inspected the area in Aug 2024 to find sewer overflow, broken internal streets and street drains overflowing and choked with municipal solid waste.
In Dec 2024, MCD submitted that it had sought details from DJB on the steps being taken for sewage management in the area, but no response was received.
The tribunal asked the DM-South to identify a land suitable for setting up such a plant, to which the DM-South, through the SDM Saket, replied on April 1, 2025.
