Residents continue to gasp for clean air at Bhalswa landfill site
New Delhi: The fire at north Delhi's Bhalswa landfill site that has been raging for the last fifteen days has affected the lives and livelihoods of people living in adjoining areas and left them gasping for breath.
The Bhalswa fire is the fourth such incident in the last month as Delhi's landfills are catching fire due to heavy build-up of methane inside the layers of millions of tonnes of garbage and heatwave in the city.
A massive fire broke out at the site on April 26. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has slapped a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for being negligent and not taking proper steps to prevent the fire at the Bhalswa landfill. Several videos showed the blaze churning out dense plumes of smoke and turning the sky hazy grey. The residents living around the nearly 17-story high dumping yard are scrap dealers. They are daily wage laborers.
Mohit, 15, has been working as a ragpicker in the Bhalswa landfill site since the age of 8 years told Millennium Post that we are not being able to sleep ever since the fire started. The smoke from the dumping yard has been entering the house. "There has been severe irritation in my eyes since the day the fire started. The last few days have been very difficult for me and my family," he lamented. He hardly earns Rs 200-300 per day to manage his household.
Samreen, 19, has been working in a condition since she was pregnant. She works from 6 am to 6 pm and hardly manages to earn Rs 200-300 in a day. She also said that she has been suffering from breathing problems and have irritation in the eyes, ever since the fire started on April 26.
"The landfill site keeps catching fire during the summers every year. We don't know what the authorities have been doing to resolve it. We are having breathing problems and irritation in the eyes because of the smoke. We have been somehow managing too fast during Ramzan. I am mainly worried about my child," she said.
Anshu, 11, has been working with her mother in the landfill site area. She wanted to become a police officer but had no choice because she has no money to survive. She told Millennium Post that my family has not been able to sleep ever since the dumping yard caught fire. We have been keeping our doors and windows shut and staying indoors mostly.
