Cong will shut all landfills if it wins polls, says Jairam
We (Cong) will develop a system for waste management, including segregation, composting. Also, households will be given free blue and green bins for waste segregation
Senior Congress leader and former Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday promised that his party will shut all sanitary landfills in the city if voted to power in the April 23 municipal polls.
Ramesh, while speaking at an event organised at the foothills of the Ghazipur landfill on Sunday, said the move will benefit the residents of the city at large.
Ramesh, along with other Congress workers, also raised a flag bearing ‘mission zero landfill Delhi’ on the giant waste mountain at Ghazipur, and said that the party will achieve the target within two years if given a chance.
“The presence of sanitary landfills is a risk to the health of local residents and a disgrace for the incumbent government and the society at large,” Ramesh said.
The national capital generates approximately 9,000 metric tonnes of garbage on a daily basis, out of which more than 40% goes untreated, the party said.
“We will develop a system for efficient waste management, including proper segregation and composting. Also, households will be given free blue and green bins for waste segregation and biodegradable waste will be transported to the local compost machine, which then will be converted into fertiliser,” said Ramesh.
He emphasised that the Congress-run Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will strictly comply to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. “We will focus on reduce, reuse, recover, recycle and remanufacturing of garbage collected from the city,” said Ramesh.
According to him, during his tenure as a Union environment minister, all attempts were made for closing the landfills located in Narela-Bawana, Bhalaswa, Okhla and Ghazipur areas.
“But all the directives sent by his ministry were met with deaf ears in the BJP-ruled MCD,” he added.