New Delhi: In what would add to Delhi’s air quality woes, a fire broke out at Bhalswa landfill site at 2 pm on Saturday, a Delhi Fire Service official said, adding firefighting was going on at the site. Three fire tenders are working to douse the blaze, he said. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said the fire was extinguished by noon, but the fire department maintained that the fire was still raging at the site.
Bhalswa landfill site falls under the jurisdiction of the NDMC. The nearly 50-metre-high heap at Bhalswa is already saturated way beyond its capacity.
Meanwhile, environment minister, Imran Hussain on Monday convened a meeting of the commissioners and other senior officers of the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi along with the senior officers of the Environment department, Delhi Fire Services and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to review the preparedness of the municipal corporations in handling the incidents of fire at the Sanitary Land Fill (SLF) sites at Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla. The commissioners of three corporations did not attend the meeting, the government said.
The minister enquired about the action taken by the North MCD in extinguishing the fire which broke out at Bhalaswa landfill site last night.
“Officers of the East MCD informed that so far as management of Ghazipur site is concerned, they have prohibited the entry of rag-pickers, including children into the site. There is posting of adequate staff for round the clock watch and ward of the site for preventing any unauthorised entry,” a Delhi government statement said.
In addition, the site is being monitored with CCTVs. Officers further informed that a dedicated fire tender along with necessary police help is also available to meet any untoward incident. The East MCD is also managing slope stabilisation for averting sliding of the garbage from the top levels.
The minister asked the North and South MCDs to make necessary arrangements for fencing the sites, preventing entry of rag-pickers including children inside the sites, provision of high mask lights within 15 days, posting of adequate staff for round the clock supervision of the sites.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “very poor” category on Monday, even as authorities said it might deteriorate in the coming days with possibilities of “severe” pollution.
