Indian capital engulfed in smoke after fire in landfill bigger than 17-storey building and 50 football pitches
- The site in northern New Delhi is taller than a 17-storey building and bigger than 50 football fields; about 2,300 tons of rubbish is dumped there every day
- The capital is in the midst of a record-shattering heatwave; three other landfill sites have also caught fire due to build-up of highly combustible methane gas
Acrid smoke hung over New Delhi for a second day on Wednesday after a massive landfill caught fire during a scorching heatwave, forcing informal waste workers to endure hazardous conditions.
The landfill in northern Delhi’s Bhalswa is taller than a 17-storey building and covers an area bigger than 50 football fields. Waste workers who live in nearby homes had emptied onto the streets on Tuesday evening. But by Wednesday morning, the thousands of people who live and work at the landfill had begun the dangerous process of trying to salvage garbage from the fire.
“There’s a fire every year. It is not new. There is risk to life and livelihood, but what do we do?” asked Bhairo Raj, 31, an informal waste worker who lives next to the landfill. He said that his children studied there and he couldn’t afford to leave.
The Indian capital, like the rest of South Asia, is in the midst of a record-shattering heatwave that experts said was a catalyst for the landfill fire. Three other landfills around the Indian capital have also caught fire in recent weeks.
The landfill in the latest fire was planned for closure more than a decade ago, but more than 2,300 tons of the city’s garbage is still dumped there every day. The organic waste in the landfill decays, resulting in a build-up of highly combustible methane gas.