While the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 aims to make all Indian cities garbage-free by 2026, waste management remains a serious concern even in the national capital. In Okhla, the dustbins are absent, door-to-door waste collection inadequate, and the garbage collection vehicles insufficient.

As a result, several small dumping yards have sprung up right in the middle of neighbourhoods. The situation is so bad that locals have put up loudspeakers outside their homes, warning people not to dump trash there.

Nadira Sartaj, a resident of Okhla, says, “I’ve been struggling to breathe for the past 15 days. My daughter has a serious heart condition. We have to keep our windows and doors shut to avoid the stench…This is not just about the smell. A landfill has essentially come up in the middle of our colony.”

Newslaundry found that the civic agency is merely relocating waste from one spot in the area to another. 

Local councillor Nazia Danish says she has repeatedly urged the government to provide more garbage collection vehicles, but her requests have gone unanswered. 

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