Citing health issues, police seek to shift posts away from Ghazipur, Bhalswa landfills

NEWDELHI: The police have sought the shifting of Ghazipur and Bhalswa police stations to “less polluted” areas, saying the smoke emanating from the landfills is harmful for health.

Officials claimed that two police officers posted to the Ghazipur police station died due to lung infection between 2013 and 2017.

While Ghazipur police station is located in the east district, the Bhalswa Dairy police station is in the outer north district of the Delhi Police’s administrative arrangement. “We have written to the police headquarters and asked them to shift the police station from its current place to a less polluted area,” a senior police officer of the east district said.

However, sources at the police headquarters said that the shifting of police stations is not a feasible idea. The sources said government bodies had provided them the land and the police stations could not be constructed outside the area of their respective jurisdiction.

For instance, the Ghazipur police station could not be shifted outside Ghazipur as it would lead to confusion and accessibility issues for people. Considering the geographical limitations, shifting of a police station is not an easy task, the sources added.

They, however, cited a survey on air quality conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board in January and April. The survey, they said, found pollution near the landfill sites to be high, with levels of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 10 being beyond permissible limits.

Doctors said that there was no relation between landfill and infections. “There is no relation between infections and landfill. Bacteria are the reason for infections. SO2, PM2.5 and PM10 themselves cannot lead to infections,” Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, respiratory medicine, Apollo Hospital, said.

A senior police officer said, “We have been given land near Delhi-uttar Pradesh border. The area is not suitable for a police station, plus there is a legal dispute over a portion of land. We have urged the department to shift us to a vacant plot that belongs to the fire station.”