Another major fire breaks out at Delhi's Ghazipur dumping yard; eight fire tenders at spot

There were eight fire tenders are at the spot to bring the blaze under control.

A major fire broke out at the dumping yard of east Delhi's Ghazipur area on Wednesday leading to a huge cloud of smoke enveloping the region and neighbouring areas. There were eight fire tenders are at the spot to bring the blaze under control. This is the third fire that broke out at the site since March 28.

This is the third fire that broke out at the site since March 28. (PTI file)

There was an inferno at the capital’s biggest landfill on March 28 as well, which smouldered for three days, bellowing thick smoke over a large area that included Ghazipur, Kondli, Patparganj, IP Extension, Kaushambi and Khoda in Delhi and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

On April 10 night, there was a big fire at the landfill late that took three hours to douse. The authorities blamed the fire partly on the high temperatures prevailing in the region.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) is looking for a new site to dump over 2,000 tonnes of garbage that is overloading the Ghazipur landfill that is estimated to hold 14 million tonnes of legacy waste accumulated over the past 38 years.

Durgesh Pathak of the Aam Aadmi Party, who co-ordinates with Delhi’s municipal corporations on behalf of the Delhi government, had earlier accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of not doing enough to manage the landfills. The EDMC is controlled by the BJP.

Fresh dumping was temporarily halted in September 2017 when a section of the landfill collapsed, claiming the lives of two people. The EDMC’s efforts to divert waste to Rani Khera , Sonia Vihar and Ghonda Gujran have faced resistance from local residents and invited adverse comments from the National Green Tribunal.