Delhi: Summer returns, so does fire at Ghazipur landfill

NEW DELHI: A section of the Ghazipur landfill site was on fire for around 10 hours on Sunday, engulfing the surrounding areas in thick smoke.
While the fire has been controlled, a senior EDMC official said such incidents were likely to rise with increasing temperature. “The landfill site expired its due limit in 2002 but no alternative site has been allocated to us. Such fires are caused by the production of methane gas from decomposing organic matter in the garbage,” he explained.
Besides being indicators of an acute waste management crisis, Delhi’s landfill sites also contribute significantly to its air pollution.Last year, Delhi witnessed a landfill fire on almost every third day, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) data shows. The fire department had received 131 distress calls with Bhalswa being the biggest contributor to toxic fume followed by Okhla and Ghazipur. Overall, the Bhalswa site had 69 major fire incidents, Okhla 35 and Ghazipur 27.
Sunday’s fire started around 11am and could only be put out around 9pm. A fire official said the frequency of these fires as well as the challenges in tackling them had been increasing every year due to the rising height of the landfill sites. “The steep vertical surface makes these sites almost inaccessible. Using water increases the problem as due to the porosity, the dried landfill also becomes active, further decreasing the stability of landfill,” the official said.
Often the vehicles get stuck and freeing them becomes a bigger problem. Delhi now produces around 10,000MT garbage every day which is dumped in its three sites. Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfills have become over 50-60m, or almost-10-storey, high and decomposition of organic garbage produces combustible methane gas, which often catches fire.
Toxic fume that these landfills emit include extremely polluting and greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide and monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, dioxins and furans. Allocation of a new site for a waste processing facility in Ghonda Gujran has met with protests from locals.
With no new site being allocated, the corporations argue that new waste-to-energy plants are the only way out. “Every civic body in Delhi is planning to set up additional waste-to-energy plants to consume all garbage generated in our jurisdictions,” a senior official said.