Delhi will deploy 1,000 battery-operated mechanical litter-picking machines across all 250 municipal wards as the government moves to strengthen waste collection and processing in the capital, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Saturday. The announcement came during the inauguration of a waste transfer station in Sarita Vihar and the launch of a citywide cleaning drive.
Gupta said Delhi generates nearly 15,000 metric tonnes of waste every day, while only 6,000-7,000 metric tonnes could earlier be processed. She said the gap had contributed to the growth of the city’s landfill sites and described waste management as a major challenge for the national capital.
According to a government statement, 50 of the planned machines were flagged off in the first phase. A total of 150 machines have arrived, while the remaining equipment is expected to be delivered within the next month. The battery-operated machines will collect small pieces of litter from roads and public spaces and support routine cleaning operations.
The government has also provided funds for 100 mechanical sweeping machines. It said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi would receive additional machinery, equipment and funding to strengthen sanitation services, with the stated aim of ensuring that waste generated each day is processed and disposed of on the same day.
In the South-East Zone, the approved sanitation equipment includes 428 auto-tippers, 128 e-rickshaws and 25 Tata 407 vehicles for door-to-door collection. The zone will also receive 27 refuse compactors, five additional refuse compactors, 30 hook loaders and 100 compactor bins. The government has further supplied 1,500 steel dustbins, 300 high-density polyethylene dustbins and 10 tipper trucks for transporting horticultural waste.
The city is also planning measures for waste streams that are often mixed with household garbage. Gupta said the government was working to establish new waste-to-energy plants, expand existing facilities, set up e-waste centres and install biogas plants to process cow dung. She said a long-term plan covering the next 15-30 years was being prepared.
The government has set up Arpan centres near metro stations to collect old clothes for reuse and recycling. It is also planning immersion kiosks across all 250 MCD wards to separately collect broken idols and puja materials. Around 100 such kiosks have already been established, according to the chief minister’s address.
The waste collection expansion will also include a larger role for women drivers. The government has appointed 35 women to operate vehicles used for door-to-door waste collection and transportation.
Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi urged residents to segregate wet and dry waste, use designated collection systems for household garbage and avoid littering public places. Gupta similarly asked residents to use designated facilities for unwanted clothes and religious materials instead of disposing of them with regular waste.
The latest measures place the MCD’s collection network, transfer infrastructure and processing capacity at the centre of Delhi’s waste-management response. The remaining mechanical litter-picking machines are expected to be delivered within the next month, while the government has said its longer-term objective is to process and dispose of daily waste on the same day.
