The blaze at the Ghazipur landfill in east Delhi reported on Saturday around 5.50 pm was extinguished in the early hours on Sunday after over seven hours of firefighting operations, a fire official said on Sunday. No one was injured in the incident. The massive landfill had partially collapsed recently, triggering a fatal accident recently.
"Five fire tenders were rushed and the blaze was finally brought under control at 1.30 am in the morning," the Delhi Fire Services official said.
The landfill was shut down following an order by lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal in the wake of the collapse that left two persons dead.
A senior official of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) said the 45-m high landfill at Ghazipur had reached to saturation point in 2002 only, and since then agency had been "looking for an alternative site.
"Two sites were already proposed by 'Delhi Development Authority' to EDMC, one at Yamuna bank did not get clearance from NGT and the second site proposed in Bawana faced a wrath from locals. Before allotting of any site by the DDA to the civic bodies, a clearance from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is mandatory," the official said.
The landfill site was commissioned in 1984; it has long outlived its utility but continues to take in over 2,500 MTD (metric tonnes daily) of garbage from East Delhi Municipal Corporation areas every day.
Delhi produces over 8,500 MTD of solid waste, but all three of its dumping grounds, with a collective capacity of 4,600 MTD are operating beyond their saturation point, at the "risk of human lives.
All the three landfill sites Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur in the national Capital, have reached to a saturation point (50 meter while 20 meter allowed) almost ten years ago but still ignoring hazards, authorities kept a blind eye, resulting in frequent tragedy.