Once Buried in Garbage, Now Open to People: 4 Indian Cities Reclaiming Landfills

A legacy dumpsite is a place where mixed waste has accumulated over many years, often without the environmental controls expected at a planned landfill. Such sites may stand near homes, informal settlements and roads. Cleaning them matters because reclaiming the land does not automatically make it safe for public use.

The article describes Delhi’s Bhalswa site, which dates to 1994 and covered about 70 acres. In June 2022, it held around 73 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste. Biomining began that year, using excavation, treatment and mechanical separation to process the old waste and recover land.

A managed landfill is designed to control risks such as leachate, fires and unstable ground. A legacy dumpsite needs those risks assessed and addressed during and after cleanup. Even when the mound disappears, soil, groundwater, drainage and ground stability must be monitored before housing, parks or other uses are approved.

The cleanup is national in scale. The Dumpsite Remediation Accelerator Programme targets complete remediation of 214 challenging legacy dumpsites across 200 urban local bodies. These sites account for 80% of the remaining legacy waste targeted under the programme. It also aims to prevent new dumpsites by September 2026.

The article provides detailed figures for selected sites. Gorakhpur’s former dumping ground covers 40 acres. Raichur’s Yakalaspura site covers 35 acres, with nearly 22 acres reclaimed by 2026 after about 62,252 metric tonnes of waste were processed. Delhi’s Bhalswa landfill covers approximately 70 acres.

There is no single combined acreage or tonnage stated for all 214 sites. Bhalswa shows the workload: about 43 acres had been reclaimed by 26 May 2026, but 23.17 lakh metric tonnes of legacy and fresh waste remained. The programme therefore involves long, staged remediation.

Biomining involves excavating old waste, treating it and mechanically separating it into different material streams. This matters because a dumpsite is not one uniform substance. Its contents may include recoverable materials, combustible fractions and soil-like or inert material, each requiring a different destination.

At Bhalswa, biomining began in July 2022. The landfill’s old waste is excavated and processed through treatment and mechanical separation. The article explains that recoverable materials may enter recycling chains. Combustible material may be processed into refuse-derived fuel. Soil-like or inert fractions may be used for suitable purposes.

These destinations are not automatic. The quality of each fraction and applicable environmental requirements determine whether it can be used. Biomining can shrink the visible mound and recover land, but it does not eliminate the need for leachate management, fire prevention, and checks on reclaimed ground. Processing remains gradual at large sites.

Reclaimed dumpsite land can support public, ecological or livelihood uses after remediation. Cities choose these uses because cleanup creates a chance to return polluted-looking, inaccessible land to urban communities. The choice also reflects local priorities, such as recreation, green cover or public services.

Gorakhpur transformed its former 40-acre dumping ground into the Kachre Se Kanchan Rapti Eco Park. It includes lawns, walking and jogging tracks, a children’s play area, an open gym and a yoga zone. Solar lighting and water-conservation structures were added. A women-led self-help group runs a restaurant there.

Raichur chose a different route. Part of its reclaimed Yakalaspura site now supports a five-to-seven-acre Miyawaki forest. Still, trees alone do not prove that land is contamination-free. Soil quality, groundwater, species survival and maintenance must be checked. Public reuse therefore depends on remediation quality and continued care.

A cleared dumpsite is not automatically safe. Old mixed waste can leave behind leachate, which requires management, and combustible material can contribute to fires. The ground may also be unstable, while soil or groundwater may remain contaminated. These risks matter because reclaimed land may later host parks, housing or other public uses.

Bhalswa demonstrates the problem. Even as biomining reclaimed approximately 43 acres by 26 May 2026, around 23.17 lakh metric tonnes of legacy and fresh waste remained. The article stresses that shrinking the visible mound is only one measure of progress. Excavated material must also be handled according to its quality and destination.

Cities therefore need safeguards during and after remediation. They must manage leachate, prevent fires, and monitor the quality and stability of reclaimed ground. Raichur’s forest project also requires attention to soil quality, groundwater conditions, plant survival and maintenance. Cleanup is complete only when these longer-term conditions are addressed.

Dumpsites are not only waste locations; they can also support livelihoods. People may depend on collecting, sorting and selling discarded materials. When a site closes or is remediated, those income sources can change or disappear. A successful project therefore needs to consider whether affected workers can enter the new waste system or other local work.

The article highlights this issue but gives limited detail about formal support. Gorakhpur’s reclaimed site includes a livelihood component. Shakti Ki Rasoi, a women-led self-help group, operates a restaurant inside the new eco-park. This connects the redeveloped land with an income-generating activity, rather than treating cleanup as only an engineering task.

The broader programme still raises a continuing question: whether people who worked with waste for years have a place in the new system. The article does not state how many waste pickers are affected or describe specific employment guarantees. Livelihood planning remains part of responsible reclamation.

Source separation means keeping different kinds of waste apart where they are discarded, such as in homes, shops and institutions. It matters because mixed waste is harder to sort, more likely to lose recyclable value, and more difficult to process safely. Separation also reduces the amount that must be sent to disposal sites.

The article focuses on legacy dumpsites and their aftermath, rather than describing a specific source-separation project. Its biomining examples show why separation matters: old mixed waste must be excavated, treated and mechanically divided into recyclables, combustible material and soil-like or inert fractions. Cleaner streams can move more directly to appropriate destinations.

Better separation supports recycling systems and reduces pressure on future disposal sites. It also complements DRAP’s aim of preventing new dumpsites by September 2026. Cleanup alone deals with yesterday’s waste; separating waste at its source helps prevent today’s discards from becoming tomorrow’s legacy mound.