The Hindu : Residents choked by burning garbage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 26, 2003

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Other States - New Delhi

Residents choked by burning garbage

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI MAY 25. Thousands of people living around the huge Ghazipur landfill site in East Delhi are feeling suffocated these days, thanks to the callous attitude of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials who are busy burning garbage showing scant regard for the Supreme Court guidelines on the matter.

The landfill site on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, which is fast nearing completion, is surrounded by several housing societies and residential areas falling not only in Delhi but also in neighbouring Ghaziabad and Noida. Hundreds of garbage trucks ferry several metric tonnes of all types of waste including hazardous ones to the landfill site every day.

Residents, who have been having sleepless nights for the past several months, allege that the MCD employees deployed at the landfill site burn garbage to make space for more garbage. "Besides managing the garbage in a very shoddy manner, the civic body has been burning garbage dumped at the site causing massive air pollution which is already causing health problems for us,'' people living in nearby housing societies alleged.

``As the night falls, a thick cloud of smoke engulfs the area making life hell for us. We can't breathe properly and we feel suffocated. The problem is more acute particularly for kids and elderly people. And for people who are suffering from diseases like asthma or respiratory diseases it becomes unbearable,'' they said.

Alleging that the MCD employees even burn hazardous waste like plastic, polythene bags and rubber from where dangerous fumes and gases are released thus posing a serious health hazard to the residents, they said the problem aggravates when there are no winds leading to the cloud of smoke hanging in the environment for hours.

However, senior MCD officials sitting pretty at Town Hall come up with an interesting reply. They say a large amount of methane emanates from the garbage dump which catches fire causing massive smoke in the surrounding area. But residents allege that it is the MCD employees who burn garbage causing great inconvenience to people.

Notably, during the past one month, fire brigade had to be pressed into action on at least three occasions as fire went out of control. Besides, garbage is also being dumped and burnt on the National Highway 24 along which the landfill site is situated causing problems to hundreds of motorists who use this stretch of the road.

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