NEW DELHI: A massive fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site on Monday afternoon, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of smoke. Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot and continued dousing the blaze till late night. The operation is expected to continue till early Tuesday morning, fire officials said.
This is the first fire this year at the landfill, which has reported 18 such incidents in the past three years.
An EDMC official said the fire broke out around 2.30pm. Standing committee chairman Beer Singh Panwar, who visited the spot Monday evening, said at least five fire tenders had been pressed into action.
“Our trucks and loaders were working continuously to cover the place with C&D waste so that the methane gas wouldn’t come in contact with the air. The situation was under control by late evening. There was no loss of life and property or any damage due to the fire,” he said.
Panwar said that methane gas is released from the garbage dump at the landfill site, which was the main cause for the fire.
“The landfill site is full of dry leaves that easily catch fire. Apart from this, the ever-increasing heat in the city is also one of the main reasons for the blaze. We are constantly trying to reduce the legacy waste at the landfill site,” said the standing committee chairman.
Considering the place is “over-saturated”, the EDMC said it is making efforts to get more land or space to dump fresh garbage.
“The problem is that we are dumping a portion of garbage daily at the landfill, so the task of processing legacy waste is becoming difficult. We have written many letters to the DDA in this regard, but so far, the space has not been provided to us,” Panwar said.
A fire official stated that such fires are “auto ignition”. “This means that they can catch fire on their own, without any external source. All that is dumped here is plastic and waste of different kinds. Plus, there is presence of bacteria and water from natural sources, leading to oxidation and self-combustion. Since all the material dumped at the landfill is combustible, it catches fire easily. It takes some time to control such fires,” he said.
Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Services (DFS), said with regard to fires at the landfill, the safety and security of firefighters also needed to be looked at.
“The first major issue at all landfills is access — there is no proper road or way to reach the exact source of the fire. Secondly, the fire is vertical so you keep pouring water but it seeps in. The surface remains cool only for a short period, which means extra effort.
“Thirdly, the firefighters can’t walk on the surface as in other cases, as it is porous and could cave in. Moving vehicles face the same issue as they are heavy. The fourth issue, and a major one, is that there is no source of water nearby, due to which one has to go refill and continue the operation again,” said Garg.
