New Delhi: The Union housing and urban affairs minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Saturday launched the Dumpsite Remediation Accelerator Programme (DRAP), a mission-mode initiative to expedite the clearance of 245 legacy waste dump sites across the country, including 214 high-load locations that account for nearly 80% of India’s remaining legacy waste, at the inaugural session of the National Urban Conclave.
Among the largest of these sites, Delhi’s Bhalswa landfill has shown early progress. Khattar, who adopted the site on September 17 to monitor the work, said 4.79 lakh tonnes of waste were remediated between September 17 and November 6. The site is now projected to clear 40 lakh cubic metres of waste by October 2026, unlocking nearly 70 acres of urban land.
Khattar said the Bhalswa experience underlines the need for stronger political oversight and faster problem-solving at the local level. He urged elected representatives and civic leaders to “adopt” dump sites in their jurisdictions and tap Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, private organisations and state agencies to support remediation.
DRAP, backed by ₹3,000 crore sanctioned for remediation, will run on the 5P framework of political leadership, public finance, public advocacy, project management and partnerships. Cities will be required to prepare micro-action plans, with progress monitored in real time through the DRAP portal. Larger dump sites such as Ghazipur and Bhalswa in Delhi, and Deonar in Mumbai contribute a major share of the load and will receive priority attention due to their scale and local constraints.
He said India must remediate the remaining high-volume sites within a tight timeline to meet the target by 2026.
Alongside DRAP, the ministry rolled out the Urban Investment Window (UWIN), a new mechanism to help states and city corporations access larger and faster capital for urban infrastructure.
The platform is operated by HUDCO, the public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), which has repurposed its 20 regional offices as specialised hubs to guide cities from project identification to investment facilitation. Officials noted that cities are navigating an estimated ₹70,000 crore requirement for urban development till 2047, underscoring the need for a structured financing support system.
UWIN will assist urban local bodies in preparing bankable proposals, improving their access to municipal bonds and concessional multilateral financing, structuring PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships), and connecting with domestic and global investors.
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