Tannuka Juneja
The work of extinguishing the massive fire that broke out on Monday at the landfill site in the Ghazipur area of East Delhi is still going on. There is no relief even after three days of the incident and the fire is smouldering continuously on the Ghazipur landfill and smoke is also covering the sky.
“An FIR has been registered under IPC sections 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) against unknown people,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said on Tuesday.
“Gas and smoke continue to rise from the Ghazipur landfill after a fire broke out 48 hours ago. We have directed DPCC to impose a fine of ₹50 lakh on MCD and to take action against on-duty MCD employees and officers at the time of the incident,” Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said.
The Arvind Kejriwal government on Monday ordered the pollution control agency to submit a report within 24 hours.
The impact of the fire at the Ghazipur landfill site was visible to Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida. The fire brigade vehicles and the municipal corporation are busy controlling the fire. There is no news of any casualty so far, the official said.
DFS chief Atul Garg said, “We initially sent six fire tenders to the Khaata area at Ghazipur. After 6 pm, we called four more fire tenders to help control the blaze. It takes time to control these landfill fires. The waste is dumped without any segregation, making it difficult to control the fire.”
“By the time our fire fighters douse the blaze at one place and begin the operation at another place, the inferno engulfs another part of the dump. There are no proper roads through which our fire fighters can reach the spot. The firemen are spraying water from a distance. As a result, it is taking a lot of time to douse the fire,,” said Garg, adding that the operation has to be curtailed during the night due to additional risks in the dark.
