An Indian landfill that is set to grow taller than the Taj Mahal has been engulfed in flames in the capital, pumping harmful toxins into the environment as a result.
The Ghazipur landfill, which reached its capacity in 2002 but is still growing with nearly 2,000 tons of garbage dumped daily, caught fire on Sunday evening amid soaring temperatures in the region.
India has been hit with its second heatwave spell this month with several places in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Gangetic West Bengal recording temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius.
Delhi has consistently seen temperatures in the 40s which has resulted in fires breaking out in methane-rich landfills, which are highly combustible.
A thick layer of toxic smoke has blanketed the area packed with residential and commercial buildings as a result, with residents complaining of breathing issues.
“We are unable to keep our eyes open due to irritation and are experiencing difficulty breathing,” Ram Kumar, a resident of nearby Gharoli village, told NDTV news channel.
Harjeet Singh, global engagement director of Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and a climate activist, who lives close to the landfill says the repeated fires on the site are a proof that “our cities are crumbling under the weight of their own waste”.
“The recent fire at the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi is a glaring testament to how our development model has gone disastrously wrong,” he told The Independent.
“This toxic ‘mountain,’ built from decades of unchecked urban waste, not only chokes our skies but also emits methane—a potent accelerator of climate change—into our atmosphere.”
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in opposition in Delhi, slammed Arvind Kejriwal, the state’s leader currently jailed on corruption charges, for his administration’s “failure” to clean up the landfill.
“The Delhi government has failed,” said BJP spokesperson RP Singh. “They claimed to clear the landfill by December 2023. But they are corrupt and indulge in internal conflicts. They don’t care about Delhi.”
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