Ghazipur residents after landfill fire

The fire department received a call about the fire at 5:22 pm on Sunday.

New Delhi:

Toxic fumes emanating from the Ghazipur landfill left residents gasping for air and cursing at politicians on Monday as mountains of garbage continued to plague the city.

Thick smoke was still rising from the sky hours after a major fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site on Monday.

According to the Delhi Fire Department, a fire broke out at the landfill on Sunday night due to gas generated by the mountains of garbage.

“It has been 15 hours since the fire broke out. This smoke is not ordinary smoke, it is very toxic. We cannot open our eyes due to the irritation and have trouble breathing,” said Ram Kumar, who lives near Garoli village . Landfill says.

Some residents told PTI Videos that they were unable to send their children to school due to the smoke.

They accuse the MCD and the city government of not taking any action to give them a better life.

“It has been 15 years. Ministers only visit us during elections. But after that, not a single person comes back to our doorsteps to find out if we are facing any problem. This landfill is a curse for us. We We are forced to endure the bad smell every day. “Now this fire has caused us some health problems, why do they (ministers) want us to die? ” said Ilayas Khan.

Rakesh Kumar, a heart patient, said he had to move in with relatives because he could no longer bear the feeling of suffocation.

“It’s not just my case, a lot of people leave home for the same reason,” he said.

Another resident, Bill Keith, said the landfill still sits where it is because politicians never delivered on their promises.

“Now they will come here again and express their concern just to vote. Nothing will happen,” she said.

Mehfuz said when he bought a home in the area about 20 years ago, the landfill wasn’t that big.

“There is no such thing as this huge landfill anymore. Why can’t the government find any proper solution? We can’t even send our children to school because of the smog,” he said.

The fire department received a call about the fire at 5.22pm on Sunday and sent 14 fire engines to put out the blaze.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)