“Ghazipur’s Blaze: Delhi’s Shameful Landfill on Fire Again”

A significant fire erupted at the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi on Sunday evening, as reported by officials. The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) received the alert at 5:22 pm, promptly dispatching two fire tenders to the scene. Currently, efforts are underway to quell the flames, with assistance from local police and excavators provided by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to aid in controlling the blaze.

This incident has drawn criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which alleges that despite promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to clear the Ghazipur landfill site by December 31 last year, the commitment has not been fulfilled. Delhi BJP accused AAP in MCD of being negligent about the flattening of landfills, as well as their maintenance. A major fire broke out at the site causing the entire area to be filled with smoke and significant inconvenience to residents. While CM Arvind Kejriwal is in jail, environment minister Gopal rai and mayor Shelly Oberai did not bother to visit the site, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged AAP has been pushing the deadlines for levelling the three landfills repeatedly and new heaps of garbage have been formed at Ghazipur Kapoor added.

The Ghazipur landfill has long been a focal point of environmental concern, with its towering height reaching 65 meters in 2019, just shy of the iconic Qutub Minar. Previous incidents, such as a fatal collapse in 2017, underscore the hazardous nature of the landfill. Despite commitments by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to resolve the issue before the 2022 MCD elections, the problem persists, with the landfill continuing to accumulate waste instead of being effectively managed and reduced.