AAP confronts its first big challenge

New Delhi: Delhi is surrounded by garbage mountains in Okhla, Ghazipur and Bhalswa. The national capital has accumulated over 27.6 million tonnes of garbage, which is a marginal decline from the 28 million tonnes being produced two and a half years ago. This has been a result of the Rs 250 crore programme to clear these landfills.

However, a question still arises when and how quickly will these garbage mountains be cleared as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its manifesto had said that their priority will be to remove this garbage which is posing a threat to the city's residents. As per sources, the average amount of garbage being cleared daily is 5,315 tonnes. Accounting for the additions to the garbage dumps, clearing the landfills at this rate could take over 197 years. Only 5.1 million tonnes of waste has been removed over the last 34 months.

The AAP has won the civic polls held on December 4 and the party had continuously targeted the BJP's "mountain of failure" during its 15-year rule in the city's civic body.

In the early 1980s, a site was finalsed in East Delhi's Ghazipur to dispose off the heaps of rotting and stinking rubbish littering the city's lanes and streets.

A decade later, markets had opened and consumerism took root, changing lifestyles and consumption patterns. More cash in hand made the people disregard the old-world wisdom of waste segregation, recycling, reuse and composting. The use of more and more packaged material, including food and juices, became rampant. The use of single-use polybags became common.