Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India has seen steady progress in cleanliness over the past few years. Initiatives under the Swachh Bharat Mission have strengthened sanitation and waste management systems across cities, laying the foundation for cleaner urban spaces.
Building on this foundation, efforts are now focused on remediating legacy waste dumpsites. These are large accumulations of waste formed over many years. Eliminating these dumpsites represents the next phase of India’s urban cleanliness efforts.
To accelerate this work, the Government launched the Dumpsite Remediation Accelerator Programme (DRAP) in November last year, with the objective of achieving ‘Lakshya: Zero Dumpsites’ by October 2026, with most dumpsites targeted for clearance within this timeframe.
Legacy dumpsites
Legacy Dumpsite Remediation is the process of scientifically cleaning up the old legacy waste dumpsites while utilising inert & C&D waste for road construction and combustible fraction for energy generation.
Approximately 2,479 dumpsites have been identified across the country, primarily those containing legacy waste of 1,000 tonnes or more. These sites together contain an estimated 25 crore metric tonnes of accumulated waste, spread across nearly 15,000 acres of land. The scale of legacy waste is compounded by rising urban waste generation.
Currently, remediation is underway at 1,428 dumpsites across the country. Over 62 per cent of legacy waste has already been processed. Under DRAP, 214 dumpsites have been identified as high-impact sites because they together contain nearly 80 per cent of India’s remaining legacy waste. These sites are spread across 30 states and UTs covering 200 Urban Local Bodies.
The approach to addressing legacy dumpsites follows a double-pronged strategy to remove old dumpsites and prevent new ones by setting up waste processing facilities.
In 2025, 459 dumpsites across 438 cities in 26 states achieved complete remediation, with 183 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of legacy waste remediated. Alongside remediation, the programme emphasises preventing the creation of new dumpsites through scientific processing of all fresh waste.
The 5P Framework
The DRAP is built on the 5P Framework of Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, launched in 2021, including political leadership, public finance, partnerships, people’s participation, and project management, ensuring every stage of dumpsite remediation, including planning and execution, remains accountable, adequately financed, partnership-driven, community-oriented, and monitored.
Political leadership: Under DRAP, senior political and administrative leaders play a direct role in accelerating remediation by adopting dumpsites.
Public finance: Provides enhanced financial assistance to cities with substantial legacy waste loads.
Partnerships: Collaboration with institutions to ensure that remediation activities progress efficiently and at scale.
People’s participation: The programme engages communities living near dumpsites through targeted awareness and participation initiatives, including:
Project management: The backbone of DRAP is a strong, technology-enabled project management system that reduces delays and increases accountability.