Delhi: Fire continues for 5th day at Bhalswa landfill site; ₹50 lakh fine imposed on NDMC
Bhalswa landfill fire: A police complaint has been filed by those residing near the Bhalswa landfill site. The residents filed the complaint at Bhalswa Dairy police station, demanding legal action against North Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh
The massive fire that broke out at the Bhalswa landfill site on April 26 has not completely dozed off yet. The residents, staying near the landfill have informed the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) that poisonous fumes are entering their homes which are causing breathing problems.
A police complaint has also been filed by those residing near the Bhalswa landfill site. The residents filed the complaint at Bhalswa Dairy police station, demanding legal action against North Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, Deputy Mayor Archana Dilip Singh, and North MCD standing committee vice-chairman Vijay Kumar Bhagat.
In the complaint letter, the locals said the smoke emitting from the fire at the landfill site has been posing a risk to their lives.
The DCW summoned the North Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on May 4 to explain the steps taken by it to prevent poisonous fumes from entering the houses of residents living nearby Bhalswa.
According to an official statement, the DCW panel has also sought details of the expenditure made by the North Delhi civic body in the last 15 years to clean the site
In addition to this, the Delhi Government has directed the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCC) to impose a ₹50 lakh fine on the North Delhi's civic body for being negligent and not taking proper steps to prevent the fire at the Bhalswa landfill.
The Bhalswa fire is the fourth such incident in the last month as Delhi's landfills are catching fire due to heavy build-up of methane inside the layers of millions of tonnes of garbage and heatwave in the city.
Three incidents of fire have been reported this year at east Delhi's Ghazipur landfill site, including one on March 28 which was doused after over 50 hours.
According to an official of NDMC, "The fire has been caused due to methane generated due to decaying organic matter in the landfill site". He said that excavators are helping to douse the fire and senior engineering officials have also been deputed to the landfill site to douse the fire.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday blamed "corruption" in the municipal corporation for the frequent fires at landfills in the city, saying the BJP-ruled civic bodies should have used bulldozers to clear the mountains of garbage.
Rai also said that the Delhi Government would study a system installed in Mumbai to capture methane from the rotting waste and replicate it in the national capital to prevent fires at the landfill site.
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