“The solution to combat these kinds of situations is to remove the whole dump yard from here. People are not able to live here due to bad air& water. Several requests were made to remove dump yard but nothing happened,” a local said as quoted by ANI.A massive fire broke out at the Bhalswa landfill on Tuesday evening. Several videos showed the blaze churning out dense plumes of smoke and turning the sky hazy grey. Fire officials had said they received the information at around 5.40 pm after which 13 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. “Our teams are working round-the-clock to put it out,” a fire officer said.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, another official said rising temperature leads to formation of methane gas at the dumpyard sites and this is “extremely flammable”. Meanwhile, Gyan Sarovar School, a child resource centre for children of rag-pickers living near the Bhalswa landfill site, has been closed for a week.Political blame game continues between AAP and BJP:
The AAP on Wednesday demanded that criminal proceedings should be initiated against BJP councillors and mayors of the three municipal corporations for frequent incidents of fire at “garbage hills” located at the borders of the capital. AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said the three landfill sites, which have taken shape of hills over the years, are “living proof of rampant corruption” prevailing in the three civic bodies under the BJP.
“These garbage hills are BJP’s sole gift to the people of Delhi. Fire at these landfill sites have become a regular story. These three garbage hills are living proof of the BJP’s rampant corruption in MCD. We demand that a criminal proceeding be initiated against the BJP councillors and all three mayors of the municipal corporations”.
Reacting to the remarks, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused the AAP leaders of indulging in “petty politics” over the issue. “Fires at landfill sites during heatwave months is normal occurrence.”
He also raked up the issue of shortage of funds with the north and east civic bodies and alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government always “tries to bully” the two corporations, instead of providing financial assistance to them.
