With the national Capital reeling under the onslaught of highly noxious air, the fire at Bhalaswa landfill has triggered heavy concentration of poisonous gases in the air. Moreover, according to the environmentalists, burning of garbage, emits hazardous gases like methane.
Taking a serious note of the frequent fire, Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussian on Monday directed all three municipal corporations to take preventive measures to stop the fire. Hussain also said that landfill sites are not well equipped to handle situations.
In a response to Delhi government, the corporation said that they are trying to prevent fires but landfill sites have already reached saturated points. Responding to the minister’ directive, municipal corporations informed that Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla landfills are not equipped to handle such situations.
Hussain also directed to municipal commissioners and other senior officers of the senior officers of Environment Department, Delhi Fire Services and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to review the preparedness of the Municipal Corporations in handling the incidents of fire at the Sanitary Land Fill (SLF) sites at Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla, in the wake of recent fire incidents at Bhalaswa.
“Delhi is already bracing itself with the adverse impact of stubble burning in the neighbouring states which is likely to aggravate air quality of Delhi in the coming days,” said Hussian.
Around 100 sq. mtr area of the Bhalaswa dumping yard caught fire last night. Officials said the area that caught fire had exposed garbage and was not covered with debris.
Harmful chemical vapours and gases from the landfill sites, which frequentlycatches fire, pose threat to Delhi’s air-quality, which is already under “very poor category”. “Some garbage was not covered and it caught fire. We are trying to cover it using debris,” Sanjay Jain,
Engineer, Department of Environment Maintenance Services (DEMS) at North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) .