Move to transform India’s Legacy Dumpsites

Centre appears to be on the move to reclaim land beneath mountains and hills of waste. How?

Reclaiming land beneath these waste dumps involves bio-mining and bioremediation to excavate, sort, and process legacy garbage mountains into usable urban space.  

If the central government’s records are to be believed, results are astonishing.

Key Highlights

• 3.66 crore metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste* remediated across India in 2025.
• 40 acres of dumpsite in Gorakhpur transformed* into an *eco park.
• 99.07 lakh MT of legacy waste* at Bhalswa remediated by 31 July 2026, as efforts accelerated under the Dumpsite Remediation Accelerator Programme (DRAP).
• 10 lakh+ MT of legacy waste treated at Nagpur’s Bhandewadi*, with the site transformed into an *integrated waste processing facility.
• 62,252 MT of legacy waste remediated at Raichur’s 35-acre Yakalaspura dumpsite,* reclaiming nearly 22 acres and developing a 5–7-acre Miyawaki forest.