Karol Bagh Zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi removed about 6,333 metric tonnes of legacy waste from railway corridors through a partnership with the Railway Department.
Several waste sites were inside active railway premises, where conventional municipal vehicles and road-based machinery could not operate.
MCD used BRN railway wagons for the first time to transport legacy waste directly through the railway network.
The initiative offers a replicable model for clearing waste from restricted-access urban spaces through joint planning, shared infrastructure and coordinated public-sector action.
Legacy waste accumulation along railway corridors represents a complex urban sanitation challenge, particularly where restricted accessibility, overlapping institutional jurisdictions and continuous waste generation make conventional municipal operations difficult.
In the Karol Bagh Zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), substantial quantities of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, household refuse and debris had accumulated over several decades along railway corridors. These deposits degraded the surrounding environment, created unhygienic conditions, generated foul odour and increased the potential for vector breeding.
A major operational constraint was that several locations were situated within active railway premises and could not be accessed by conventional municipal vehicles and road-based machinery. To address this, Karol Bagh Zone adopted a collaborative governance approach with the Railway Department. Joint surveys, technical assessments, coordinated deployment of manpower and machinery, railway permissions and synchronised field operations were undertaken.
A key innovation was the first-ever deployment of BRN railway wagons by MCD for the direct transportation of legacy waste through the railway network. Through this institutional convergence, approximately 6,333 metric tonnes of legacy waste were scientifically removed from railway corridors.
The initiative demonstrates how coordinated public-sector action, technical innovation and shared responsibility can overcome access and logistics constraints, while providing a practical and scalable model for urban sanitation and environmental restoration.
Railway corridors passing through Karol Bagh Zone had, over several decades, become vulnerable to the accumulation of legacy waste. Large quantities of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, household refuse and other debris had been indiscriminately dumped along railway tracks, resulting in long-standing waste deposits at several locations.
These deposits not only degraded the surrounding environment but also affected sanitation conditions through foul odour, vector-breeding potential and deterioration of the urban landscape.
The challenge extended beyond the presence of waste itself. Most of the identified dumping locations were within active railway corridors, where direct access through municipal roads was unavailable or severely restricted. Conventional municipal vehicles and machinery, such as dumpers, compactors and loaders, could not reach several locations because of narrow access points, limited working space, railway safety requirements and the operational layout of the corridor.
Consequently, while the need for removal was well recognised, evacuation and transportation of the excavated material from railway premises remained the principal operational challenge.
Recognising that the issue could not be effectively addressed through conventional municipal sanitation mechanisms alone, Karol Bagh Zone initiated a collaborative approach with the Railway Department. The objective was to bring together municipal sanitation expertise and railway operational infrastructure to establish a coordinated mechanism for safe, systematic and scientific legacy waste removal.
The implementation of legacy waste removal from railway corridors involved several operational, technical and institutional challenges.
The first was the large-scale accumulation of waste over several decades, which made scientific remediation a complex task. The second was physical inaccessibility: several dumping sites had no suitable municipal-road approach and offered limited space for equipment movement.
The third and most significant challenge was transportation. Since road-based evacuation was not feasible along several stretches, an alternative mechanism was required to move excavated waste safely and efficiently.
The project also required continuous coordination between MCD and the Railway Department for operational permissions, scheduling of activities, deployment of manpower and machinery, and compliance with railway protocols.
Locations such as railway junctions, multiple-track crossings and narrow corridor stretches presented additional technical difficulties. Certain activities required night-time execution to minimise disruption to railway traffic. Such operations demanded careful planning for illumination, manpower, equipment movement, supervision and worker safety.
In parallel, preventing fresh dumping after clearance was identified as essential for sustaining the cleanliness achieved through the intervention.
To address these constraints, Karol Bagh Zone established a structured coordination mechanism involving officials of MCD and the Railway Department. Regular discussions, joint meetings and field-level coordination enabled both agencies to develop a common operational strategy and resolve issues relating to access, safety, logistics and execution.
Joint field surveys were conducted across railway corridors within Karol Bagh Zone to assess the extent of legacy waste accumulation, site accessibility, railway movement, working conditions and the requirement for railway support.
Based on these assessments, priority intervention locations were identified, including Daya Basti Railway Colony, Prem Nagar, Amar Park Railway Corridor, Kirti Nagar Industrial Area Railway Line and the Patel Nagar–Daya Basti railway stretch.
This joint assessment created the basis for site-specific planning, resource mobilisation and synchronised field execution.
The most significant innovation of the initiative was the use of railway infrastructure itself to overcome the transportation barrier.
Officers from Karol Bagh Zone and the Railway Department jointly carried out a technical assessment of available railway wagons. The assessment considered loading capacity, operational feasibility, accessibility and compatibility with field conditions. Based on this assessment, BRN wagons were identified as the most suitable option for waste evacuation.
The initiative marked the first-ever deployment of BRN railway wagons by MCD for the direct transportation of legacy waste through the railway network. This approach enabled the evacuation of waste from locations where conventional road-based transportation was not feasible.
Rather than treating restricted railway access as an unavoidable limitation, the project integrated the railway’s own logistics infrastructure into the sanitation operation. The intervention therefore addressed the core logistical challenge while maintaining the operational requirements of an active railway environment.
Following the joint planning process, site-specific operational plans were prepared for the identified locations. These plans defined the sequence of work, deployment of manpower and machinery, access arrangements and transportation requirements.
Necessary railway permissions, operational clearances and safety approvals were obtained before field activities began.
Field execution involved the synchronised deployment of JCBs, excavators, loaders, sanitation teams and BRN wagons. Wherever required, operations were scheduled during night hours to minimise disruption to railway traffic and ensure safe execution within active railway corridors.
Continuous field supervision was maintained by officials of both departments. Regular inspections, joint supervision and review meetings helped address operational issues during implementation and ensured coordination between excavation, loading and transportation activities.
The collaborative intervention resulted in the systematic removal of approximately 6,333 metric tonnes of legacy waste from railway corridors across Karol Bagh Zone. The operation transformed long-neglected railway stretches into cleaner and environmentally safer spaces and substantially improved sanitation conditions.
Critical night-time operations, particularly near Daya Basti Railway Station, were completed without disrupting regular railway operations. The initiative also successfully addressed technically challenging locations, including the Zakhira, or Prem Nagar, railway stretch, where multiple railway lines converge and working space and equipment movement are constrained.
Through meticulous planning and coordinated execution, legacy waste was removed from areas that had remained inaccessible for several years.
Removal of the accumulated waste improved the cleanliness of railway corridors, reduced foul odour and vector-breeding potential, and restored the visual condition of these important urban spaces.
To sustain the gains achieved, secondary storage bins were installed at vulnerable locations along railway corridors to discourage fresh dumping and strengthen the municipal waste collection system. Regular monitoring and awareness activities were incorporated to support long-term maintenance of the cleared stretches.
At the institutional level, one of the most significant outcomes was the establishment of a first-of-its-kind collaborative governance model between MCD and the Railway Department. The initiative demonstrated that complex sanitation challenges extending across multiple jurisdictions can be addressed through institutional convergence, joint planning, resource sharing and coordinated implementation.
The experience demonstrates that complex urban sanitation challenges can be addressed when institutions jointly define responsibilities, share resources and plan operations around the requirements of each agency.
The partnership established a framework for joint planning, coordinated decision-making, technical assessment, resource mobilisation and synchronised execution.
The operational model is scalable and adaptable to similar railway corridors and other restricted-access government lands across Delhi and the country. Its key elements — joint field assessment, site-specific operational planning, use of appropriate institutional infrastructure, coordinated manpower and machinery, safety compliance, night-time operations where necessary, and post-clearance monitoring — provide a practical framework for urban local bodies and infrastructure agencies facing similar environmental and sanitation challenges.
The legacy waste removal initiative undertaken by Karol Bagh Zone, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, in partnership with the Railway Department, represents a landmark example of how collaborative governance can transform a complex and long-standing urban sanitation challenge into an effective operational solution.
The scientific removal of approximately 6,333 metric tonnes of legacy waste, supported by the innovative use of BRN railway wagons for direct evacuation, addressed the central constraint of inaccessible railway corridors.
Beyond the immediate environmental and sanitation improvements, the initiative demonstrated that institutional convergence, technical innovation, coordinated planning and field-level execution can overcome operational constraints that cannot be addressed effectively by a single agency.
The experience establishes a practical and replicable model for inter-agency collaboration in restricted-access locations.
As cities continue to face increasingly complex infrastructure and environmental challenges, the initiative reinforces that collaboration between public institutions is not merely an administrative necessity but a strategic enabler of sustainable urban transformation. The Karol Bagh experience illustrates how shared responsibility, coordinated governance and innovative planning can create lasting improvements in urban sanitation while strengthening public service delivery.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth