NEW DELHI: A massive fire broke out at east Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill on Monday afternoon engulfing the entire area with clouds of smoke, which went on to rage even while this report was being compiled at 9 pm. With summer here and Monday being the hottest day of the season, the legacy waste here caught fire, said officials.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said that they received a call about a huge fire starting at the landfill (towards the Hindon canal) at 2.37 pm after which nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot. “Since the landfill is huge and like a mountain, vehicles cannot be sent up and we try to control the fire from spreading further by spraying water.
The pathway is too narrow that tenders take time to get at the foot of the landfill. It takes time to get the fire under control even then, as its vertical water doesn’t stand there and goes right down. It may take another day for the fire to be completely doused,” said Atul Garg, director, DFS.
According to officials of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), under whose jurisdiction the landfill falls, the temperature is rising, which allows methane gas formation in the legacy waste and when the combustion levels get too high, it starts a fire.
“First the legacy waste itself is too much, and then RDF and inert material too is lying at the landfill itself, as we don’t have many designated sites for its disposal. All this material in the heat can get highly combustive. The fire spread fast, as winds were strong in the day and since the area is huge, it was difficult getting it under control,” said a senior official look after the site.
The official added that there are certain pockets in the landfill where methane formation takes place primarily. These are pockets where the piled up waste is too old and its leachate goes down in the ground after fresh waste is continuously being disposed on it. “These are the pockets that catch fire every summer,” the official said.
Cause could be methane gas
EDMC standing committee chairman Beer Singh Panwar said that there was no loss of life and property due to the fire. “Methane gas is released from the garbage dump which could be the cause for the fire.”