Aam Aadmi Party MLAs protested in several areas on Friday against the “garbage mismanagement” and the alleged plan of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to set up 16 new landfill sites in the national Capital.
MCD has categorically stated that it has no plans to set up new landfills and that action will be taken against people spreading the rumour.
Carrying placards, AAP workers and MLAs gathered near the garbage collection points in their assembly constituencies on Friday and raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
AAP MLA from Kalkaji Atishi said that there were “eight feet high garbage mounds” on Kalkaji’s streets near Govindpuri and the “MCD was forced” to clean them up under pressure from the AAP. She added that MCD has started work on making another mountain of garbage near Govindpuri Metro station. “All the people living in Kalkaji know that there were eight-feet high garbage mounds here. When we exposed the BJP-ruled MCD, the BJP got it cleaned last night. The BJP has turned whole Delhi into a garbage city, and now it is going to build garbage mountains at 16 more places in Delhi,” she said.
The AAP has intensified its campaign against poor sanitation record of the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the wake speculation that municipal elections may be announced soon. The BJP ruled the MCD for 15 years, during which sanitation workers went on multiple strikes, leading to garbage heaps appearing along the roads. The Centre merged the three civic bodies in May, and the MCD now is being run by two officials appointed by the Centre.
Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj led the protest near Chirag Dilli. The legislator said the the BJP ruled MCD has turned the city into a garbage capital in the last 15 years. “The garbage mountains of Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur created by the BJP have already made life difficult for Delhiites. BJP is making 16 more garbage mountains for which some areas have also been identified,” he added.
Kondli MLA Shri Kuldeep Kumar said that people’s lives have become unbearable due to the stench of garbage around the landfills and now BJP is going to build mountains of garbage at 16 new places. Similar protests were held at Timarpur, Burari, Tilak Nagar, Burari among other sites.
At a press conference on Friday, MCD reiterated that it will take strict action against misleading campaigns. The civic body on Wednesday had filed a police complaint in RK Puram where AAP workers were found making public announcements about setting up a new landfill.
In an official statement, MCD said, “It has come to notice that false information is being spread that 16 new landfill sites will be established. The corporation would like to assure the citizens that the civic body has no plan to create 16 new landfill sites in the city, and will take strict action against people spreading such falsehood.”
MCD officials also shared data on the progress of landfill clearing and biomining project. “MCD has deployed 44 trommel machines at three landfill sites with capacity to process approximately 20.000-22,000 tonnes of garbage in a day. We have processed 7.7 million tonnes of legacy waste till date and the height of garbage mounds has decreased by 15 metres at Okhla landfill site and nearly 18 metres at Ghazipur landfill,” the officials said.
