India, Sept. 16 -- Union urban development minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday announced that he will "adopt" the Bhalswa landfill site in north Delhi, setting an ambitious target of clearing the decades-old mountain of waste within the coming year.

"The 15-day national cleanliness campaign will begin on September 17. I will visit Bhalswa that day, accompanied by administrators, to review plans for remediation and processing. The cleanup will be initiated then," Khattar said at a press conference to launch the "Swachhta hi Sewa" fortnight campaign.

The minister acknowledged that lack of space for waste processing has long hindered progress and said he has asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to identify 5-10 acres of land to a...