Toxic fumes fill Delhi’s skies after vast landfill site catches fire

INA – SOURCES
 
Parts of a fire that broke out at a gigantic landfill site on the outskirts of Delhi known as the “mountain of shame” were still smouldering 24 hours later, choking local residents who have complained of breathing in toxic fumes.
 
Dozens of firefighters struggled to douse the flames at the landfill site in Ghazipur, due to its height and a lack of access roads.
 
The precise cause of the fire has not been established but Monday was the hottest day in India’s capital so far this year and experts said the heat could have increased the amount of methane generated by decomposing waste. Once methane crosses a certain limit, a fire is ignited.
 
“My son was the first to start itching his eyes and coughing,” said Shyam Biswas, who sells flowers in the local wholesale market. “Then my father began and when we went out on the balcony we saw the sky filled with black smoke.”
 
As the landfill comes into view from the highway that passes through Ghazipur, it looks like an eerie mountain range with vultures circling above.
 
Packed with the rubbish of Delhi’s 20 million residents, the site has grown since it was set up in 1994 to cover 80 acres and reach a height of 65 metres. It exceeded its capacity more than a decade ago but 2,500 tonnes of waste continue to be dumped on it every day.
 
Like other Indian cities, Delhi has no system of waste disposal and treatment other than dumping it in landfills. A study in 2020 by the Centre for Science and Environment found more than 3,000 mountainous landfills across India containing 800m tonnes of rubbish. The country’s tallest mountain of rubbish – in Mumbai – is estimated to be 18 storeys high.