Two people died and several sustained injuries as part of the towering Ghazipur landfill site in East Delhi, known as Kuda Hill — nearly 50 metres or over 15-storey high — collapsed on Friday afternoon, sweeping several vehicles and people on a nearby road into Kondli canal.
Those who witnessed the collapse described it as a horrific landslide that covered more than half a kilometre stretch of the road parallel to the canal. “We heard a loud thud. The landfill came crashing like a big sea wave. By the time commuters could scurry to safety, they were carried into the canal by the flying garbage. A few minutes later, we heard people screaming from the canal. Since it was also raining on Friday, we found it difficult to pull out the people. We called on 100 several times. It took a long time for police to reach,” said Vikas, one of the eyewitnesses.
locals were the first to respond to the incident. Many of them claimed that they even jumped into the waters and to rescue victims.
A Hyundai X-cent sedan, two motorcycle and a scooter were later pulled out from the canal. The garbage hill that falls under the jurisdiction of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) normally receives a fourth of the Delhi’s 10,000 tonne-trash generated every day but due to the monsoon, the inflow was higher at 3,000 tonnes a day.
Victims were identified as 30-year-old Rajkumari and 20-year-old Abhishek. The woman was probably riding a scooter when she came under the impact of the collapse. Four people have been rescued from under the garbage dump. However, many workers and ragpickers are are feared trapped inside the garbage.
According to officials, within minutes of the tragedy, teams from the Delhi Police, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force, Civil Defence personnel, firefighters, ambulances and divers rushed to the spot and rescue operation was launched on a large scale. The rescue operations continued late on Friday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh said, “People who were rescued have been identified as Karan, Pankaj, Amit, Deepak and Ayub Ansari.”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia visited Ghazipur and took stock of the rescue operations. “It’s manmade disaster. Criminal. Mountains of garbage. Why doesn’t MCD use modern technology to manage solid wasteIJ,” the CM tweeted.
Chief fire officer of the Delhi Fire Service Atul Garg, who was on the spot, said more than 25 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Ravindra Yadav said around 2.38 pm we received a call that a car fell into Kondli canal under the impact of landfill collapse in Ghazipur. “A team of local police reached the spot and found that a taxi car, two motorcycles and a scooter had fallen into the canal.”
East Delhi mayor Neema Bhagat, when contacted, said a portion of the garbage mound collapsed due to rain.
“A portion of that (collapsed garbage mound) then fell into one of the canals close to it and the water splashed on to some moving vehicles throwing them into another flank of the canal,” Bhagat claimed.
The Delhi Government hit out at the BJP-ruled municipal corporations saying the condition of the garbage dump was a recipe for disaster.
“MCDs don’t have time to address municipal solid waste management issues; DDA not ready to give land for alternate sites -recipe for disaster. Repeated Supreme Court and High Court warnings on the height of landfill sites have fallen on MCDs deaf ears & DDA not ready to give land,” Delhi Government spokesperson Nagendar Sharma said in a series of tweets.
The Ghazipur landfill is among four main garbage dumping spots in the national Capital.