The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to file an affidavit, indicating steps for the treatment of solid waste management in the city.
The direction came after the civic body expressed confidence that by 2026, the daily shortfall of 3,000 tonnes per day (tpd) of untreated waste will be fixed following the decision of the lieutenant governor, empowering the MCD commissioner to execute waste management projects that exceed a cost of ₹5 crore.
A bench headed by justice Abhay S Oka was hearing a public interest litigation by MC Mehta, flagging the problem of pollution in Delhi — one of the sources of pollution in the city has been attributed to landfill fires and solid waste burning. In July, the court had observed that Delhi faces a “public health emergency” as a daily waste generation of 3,800 tpd goes untreated as the mechanism available within the city is not in a position to handle it.
During the hearing on Friday, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for MCD, informed the bench that on October 14, the LG approved a proposal to increase the commissioner’s power to take financial decisions with regards to specific solid waste management-related projects above ₹5 crore.
“Now with the notification issued, the commissioner will be processing the bids in the next two weeks. By 2026, we will meet not only the new waste generated daily but will be ahead of it by 3000 tonnes,” Guruswamy said, adding that in the coming days, work with regard to six projects will be implemented.
The new projects include a 3,000 tpd waste-to-energy plant at Narela-Bawana, and a 2,000 tpd waste-to-energy plant at Ghazipur, among others.
The bench, also comprising justice Augustine George Masih, said, “A copy of the order of October 14 passed by the department of urban development, Delhi government is taken on record. We direct that an affidavit be filed by MCD regarding steps taken pursuant to the said order.”
The court posted the matter for further consideration on November 25.
Besides Delhi, the court also considered the gap between the generation and processing of solid waste in the NCR towns. Figures presented to the court by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region and Adjoining areas suggested the shortfall to be 946 tpd in Gurugram, 590 tpd in Faridabad, and 198 tpd in Greater Noida. The court had sought responses from the civic bodies in these cities as well.
The court agreed to separately consider the responses of the NCR towns on November 11.
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