NEW DELHI: Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said the BJP-ruled municipal corporations should have used bulldozers to clear the mountains of garbage in Delhi as he blamed "corruption" in the MCDs for the frequent fires at landfills in the city.
Rai's remarks came a day after a massive fire broke out at the Bhalswa landfill in north Delhi.
Several videos showed the blaze churning out dense plumes of smoke and turning the sky hazy grey.
"One thing is clear. The BJP in MCD did nothing about the mountains of garbage for 15 years. They indulged in corruption and these fires are a result of it," he told reporters.
"They should have used the bulldozer to clear these mountains of garbage in their 15 years of rule," Rai said in response to a question on the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's drive against encroachment.
The minister had on Tuesday night asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to submit a report on the fire at the landfill in north Delhi within 24 hours.
On April 21, Rai had said the Delhi government will study a system installed in Mumbai to capture methane from the rotting waste and replicate it in the capital to prevent fires at landfills.
The Ghazipur landfill has seen three such fires since March 28.
The wet waste dumped in a landfill produces methane when it rots.
In hot weather conditions, methane catches fire spontaneously and the blaze spreads as it feeds on combustible material like textiles and plastics.