Ghazipur Landfill Fire: After a fire broke out in the dumping yard of Ghazipur landfill site on Monday afternoon, people living in its vicinity are facing difficulty in breathing as smoke still spread throughout the area.
Local resident Vasudev said that on Monday around 1 pm, we saw thick smoke coming out of the dumping yard. I live nearby, we are having trouble breathing as the whole area is engulfed in thick smoke since yesterday. He also said that several fire tenders can be seen at the landfill, but there is no respite from the smoke in the area so far.
Faziya Ahmed, a mechanic working in the area, said it was almost impossible for him to breathe when the fire broke out yesterday. Ahmed said the situation had improved slightly, but still the toxic fumes were making it difficult to breathe.
Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has ordered an inquiry into the fire on Monday. Rai said that the disaster management team is working on the spot to douse the fire. This kind of incident has happened before. The reason for this is negligence. However, a detailed report on the current incident has been sought from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.
The government on Monday ordered the agency to investigate the fire and submit a report within 24 hours. A fire broke out at a dumping yard in East Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill on Monday afternoon.
Delhi Police registers FIR against unknown people
Delhi Police has registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the fire at Ghazipur dumping yard in East Delhi. Giving information about this on Tuesday, the officials said that the work of extinguishing the massive fire that broke out on Monday at the ‘Dumping Yard’ in Ghazipur area is still going on. Even 24 hours after the incident, some places are still on fire. The effect of the smoke that rose after this incident was felt in the surrounding areas as well. A fire brigade official said that four fire tenders were present at the spot.
Delhi Fire Service (DFS) chief Atul Garg said that the work of extinguishing the fire is still on and it may take a few more hours for the cooling process to be completed. He said that there is no report of any casualty so far.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said that an FIR has been registered by the police against unknown persons under sections 278, 285 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the fire department, the fire department received information about the fire at Ghazipur dumping yard at 2.30 pm on Monday. As per the information shared by the fire department, there have been a total of four incidents of fire at different landfill sites till Sunday this year. In the same period last year, there were 16 incidents of fire. At the same time, there were 15 such incidents in 2020 and 37 in 2019.
East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) standing committee chairman Bir Singh Panwar had earlier told that the fire was caused by high temperature, as the waste was mostly plastic and the methane gas is continuously generated from the garbage dump. He had told that 22 bulldozers have been deployed by the EDMC to help in the process of extinguishing the fire.