Education Minister inspects Janakpuri constituency, flags lapses in waste management

Delhi’s Education Minister Ashish Sood on Wednesday carried out an inspection to take stock of the cleanliness and waste management conditions across Mahavir Enclave Part III, Solanki Chowk and Pankha Road in the Janakpuri Assembly Constituency. Senior officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Public Works Department (PWD) and other departments were present during the visit.

During the inspection, the minister interacted with residents, who raised several complaints regarding garbage overflow, poor waste segregation and irregular door-to-door collection.

Residents of Mahavir Enclave Part III informed the minister that the locality had only one garbage dumping point where waste from several wards was being deposited, causing them severe inconvenience. They added that garbage often spilled onto the road due to excessive waste accumulation and that segregation was not being carried out properly.

Acting on these complaints, Sood directed officials to close the gate located in front of the residential area and open a new one on the water-pump road. He also instructed the DC (Najafgarh) and DC (West) to jointly divert part of the area’s waste to Rajapuri, noting that the current site was too small to handle garbage from multiple wards.

Residents further told the minister that “due to alleged collusion between certain MCD staff and private rickshaw operators, private waste collectors were also dumping garbage at this site.” Sood asked MCD and PWD officials to prepare a plan to expand the dumping site, utilising the adjacent vacant land.

Another major concern shared by locals was that garbage-collection vehicles failed to enter several small lanes, leading to irregular waste lifting. The minister issued a stern warning to the MCD Sanitation Inspector, directing him to “ensure that garbage collection vehicles reach every lane daily and deposit the collected waste at the designated site, failing which strict action shall follow.”

During the field inspection, the minister also found construction and demolition waste lying along Pankha Road. He reprimanded the PWD AE and JE for their negligence and ordered them to send the debris to the C and D Waste Plant immediately. He also instructed them to ensure that no such waste appears on the stretch again, warning them of strict action.

At Solanki Bridge, the minister found garbage accumulated along the footpath and several damaged portions of the walkway. He directed the MCD and PWD officials to remove the waste and repair the broken footpath without delay.

Sood criticised the local Aam Aadmi Party leadership, saying that “despite having an Aam Aadmi Party MLA and councillor in the area for the past 10 years, no meaningful steps were taken to resolve these long-standing issues. He added that AAP continues to focus only on photo-ops instead of real work.”

He also said that “over the past 10 years, due to collusion between the garbage mafia and certain contractors, Delhi’s waste-management system had completely collapsed.”