NEW DELHI: Two days after a fire engulfed Delhi’s largest landfill site, another blaze was reported from a landfill site located on the Gurugram-Faridabad border on Tuesday. According to fire officials, no injuries were reported in the incident.
A senior fire officer said that they received a call regarding the fire incident at Bandhwari landfill site around 5.15 am on Tuesday, following which all the relevant agencies were alerted and fire tenders were rushed to the scene. Thick plumes of smoke could be seen emanating from a large strech of the garbage mountain which was engulfed in flames, posing a major environmental risk to the residents.
As per Gurugram municipal corporation, the fire personnel were able to completely douse the flames by around 6 pm in the evening. However, senior fire department officials maintained that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.
Incidents of fire at landfill sites are not uncommon during the summers months and multiple causes can spark a fire outbreak, even in the absence of human intervention.
According to environmental experts, every landfill site emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that causes atmospheric warming. Hot and dry weather conditions around a combustible gas like methane is said to be a possible cause of fire. However, fire officials said that a probe is underway to ascertain the cause.
The Gurugram landfill fire incident comes just two days after a fire broke out at east Delhi’s Ghazipur landfill site, triggering a political slugfest just ahead of the MCD mayor polls. The firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze after a massive 15-hours operation.