Fire at Bhalswa landfill adds to pollution woes
NEW DELHI: Even as Delhi’s air quality continues to oscillate between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’, a fire broke out at Bhalswa landfill on Saturday afternoon and continued till Sunday evening, adding thick clouds of toxic smoke into the already polluted air.
On Monday, Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain convened a special meeting with municipal officials to discuss the frequent landfill fires and measures to prevent such incidents. While the Delhi government directed the Bjp-led civic agencies to step up measures to prevent such incidents, the north corporation called the incident a “normal phenomenon”.
According to the statement released by the government, the municipal agencies confessed they are not equipped to handle such fires. “The three municipalities have been directed to take necessary steps to prevent such fires, especially when Delhi is already suffering from the effects of stubble burning in the neighbouring states. None of the three (MCD) commissioners attended the meeting,” the statement read.
A north Delhi municipal corporation spokesperson, however, said, “It was a small fire. We will start sprinkling water to avoid such incidents in future.”
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said three fire tenders were rushed to douse the fire. “Landfill fires are more complicated than regular fires because we are deal- ing with combustible gases released from the garbage heap. We douse one part and the fire starts at another side,” said a fire official. The fire started around 2pm, ragpickers who live in the nearby Bengali Basti, said.
Residents of the Basti said for days after a fire breaks out, the air remains hazy, making it difficult for them to work on the landfill that. “Many children help their parents to sieve recyclable waste. Such fires are harmful for them but who cares about the health of the poor,” said Neerja, a resident.
The city faced a similar situation last year when a fire broke out at Bhalswa last November. The fire had continued for over 15 days at a time when the air was already at its worst. Landfill fires is caused when the methane released by garbage decomposition comes in contact with the moisture in the air and reacts.
Experts say that the civic agencies should resort to advanced methods of waste disposal.
Chitra Mukherjee, manager (outreach and advocacy) at Chintan, an NGO working with ragpickers around these landfills, said, “Landfills cannot be an option for waste management. We need to divert waste from it by composting or by bio-methanation of organic waste, and recycling of dry waste.”
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment, said:“they must do it quickly as winter is close by, and fires during winter will make matter worse. The agencies must learn their lesson. As the wind speed gets lower and temperature dips, the polluted air coming out of the landfill fires will get trapped, which would severely affect the air quality.”