NGT Directs MCD to Disclose Quantity of Waste Accumulated at Singhola Dump Site
The National Green Tribunal has directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to disclose the exact quantity of waste accumulated at the Singhola dump site. Taking note of omissions in a status report submitted by the civic body, the green tribunal ordered the corporation to file a fresh affidavit specifying the waste volume at Singhola along with an updated progress report at least one week before the next hearing on October 14.
The tribunal's directions came during a hearing arising from its suo motu cognisance of a report published on November 4, 2024, which highlighted new waste mounds emerging at Singhola and Narela despite landfill remediation efforts across the capital.
During the hearing, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) informed the tribunal that a contract for establishing a daily silt-processing facility at Singhola had been awarded, with operations expected to start from November this year. However, the bench noted that the civic body's affidavit failed to disclose the quantity of waste and Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) currently accumulated at the site.
Regarding the Narela-Bawana facility, MCD filed a status report dated April 20, 2026, stating that no untreated municipal solid waste was lying at the site and that accumulated material consisted only of Refuse Derived Fuel. Out of approximately 34,313 metric tonnes of legacy RDF retrieved from the landfill, 9,654.5 metric tonnes had been disposed of by March 2026, with the remaining material undergoing processing and phased disposal. An engineered sanitary landfill has been developed over 34.25 acres at the same location, with consent to operate granted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee valid until June 15, 2029.
The 7.2-acre Singhola site was designated as a temporary dumping ground for drain silt after a section of the Ghazipur landfill collapsed in 2017. By July 2022, around 900,000 metric tonnes of silt had accumulated at Singhola, dumped primarily by MCD's Shahdara North and Shahdara South zones, as well as the Public Works Department and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
Although MCD completed bio-mining and cleared the accumulated silt last year, dumping resumed soon afterwards due to the urgency of pre-monsoon desilting operations. The civic body stated it is now setting up a silt processing facility nearby to prevent the formation of another waste mound at the location.
