New Delhi: East Delhi mayor Neema Bhagat on Saturday announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of two persons who died after a portion of a mountainous garbage dump in Ghazipur caved in. Earlier two persons, including a woman, were killed when a huge portion of a landfill in Ghazipur garbage landfill collapsed on Friday afternoon and swept away several people including vehicles plying on road into the nearby Kondli canal.
Panic prevailed in the area soon after the incident, prompting scores of residents, passersby, and motorists run to rescue people who came under the rubbles. The police has identified the deceased as 32-year-old Rajkumari and 20-year-old Abhishek. A car, scooter and two motorcycles were swept away by the resulting momentum of the garbage and slush, and thrown off into a canal. While Raj Kumari and Abhishek died, five persons were injured in the incident.
The landfill site falls under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). Ms Bhagat, who met the family members of the deceased, said, “The landfill site had reached its saturation point in 2002”.
She announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the deceased from the mayor’s fund. The Ghazipur landfill is the oldest of its kind in the national capital. It was started in 1984 and is spread over 29 acres. According to officials, permissible height for a garbage dump is 20 metres. Every day, 2,500 metric tonnes of garbage is dumped at the site.
