Ghazipur, Delhi: Just why has this landfill been simmering for so long

Delhi’s main landfill at Ghazipur, which is actually a 65-metre-high hill of garbage, caught fire March 28, 2022. This one has been difficult to dowse down unlike previous fires at the site. This has led the air quality of Delhi, which was still recovering from yet another highly toxic winter, to plummet.

Delhi’s air quality had improved to the ‘moderate’ Air Quality Index (AQI) category during March. But it is again down to ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ AQI categories since March 28.

Fumes from the landfill fire are driving this unseasonal spell of toxic air. This is supported by the fact that the city’s lead pollutants on March 30 and 31 have been nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Pariculate Matter (PM)2.5.

During this time of the year, Delhi’s lead pollutant is generally PM10, which is primarily a non-combustion source pollutant. NO2 comes from combustion sources and is rarely the lead pollutant in Delhi.

Conditions are much worse in the immediate surroundings of the landfill. There are seven realtime monitoring stations in its vicinity. These are at Anand Vihar, Dilshad Garden and Patparganj in Delhi, at Indirapuram and Vasundhara in Ghaziabad side and at Sector 62 and Sector 1 in Gautambudh Nagar (Noida).

PM2.5 levels rose 20-60 per cent among these monitoring stations March 28 itself. Levels have continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ AQI category in Anand Vihar, Indirapuram and Vasundhara, all located north and north-west of the fire.

Levels of carbon monoxide, a highly toxic gas, are also very high in the area, with the eight-hour running average exceeding the standard by two-three times since the start of the fire.

Why landfills?

Fires at landfills are natural. Landfills are one of the primary sources of methane emissions. When municipal solid waste is first deposited in a landfill, it undergoes an aerobic (with oxygen) decomposition stage where little methane is generated.

Then, typically within less than a year, anaerobic conditions are established and methane-producing bacteria begin to decompose the waste and generate methane.

However, methane self-ignites at temperatures of 60-70 degrees Celsius, which can easily be reached at landfill sites during summer. Highly combustible waste like plastic is dumped in abundance at the site. Hence, the presence of methane even in small quantities can trigger a raging inferno. This is what is happening at Ghazipur.

Futile efforts

The Ghazipur landfill is a constant health hazard. Last year, fires broke out four times. In 2017, a large part of it loosened and broke away, crashing on to the road and killing two people. Efforts have been underway to neuter the threat for a few years now.

In October 2019, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) began using trommel machine-cum-ballistic separators, which are mechanical screening machines used to separate solid waste and inert materials.

Gautam Gambhir, East Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament, informed at the Delhi Assembly environment meeting held to discuss the Ghazipur landfill in December 2020, that around 3,000 metric tonnes of waste was being processed every day from the landfill.

He had said that by the end of 2023, 50 per cent of the dump will be processed and 100 per cent of it will be processed by the end of 2024.

In fact, EDMC had been successful in arresting the ever-increasing height of the landfill but the current fire strongly indicates that things have not been going as intended.

“The problem of the landfill is created by us. Political, administrative, technical people all are responsible for the current situation and fires at the landfill,”  Pradeep Kr Khandelwal, recently retired chief engineer of EDMC, said.

“When all kinds of waste was dumped at the landfill site, the trash was covered and compacted. The covering was being made with the help of construction and demolition (C&D) waste,” Khandelwal said.

“But now, with the C&D recycling facilities, this waste does not come to the landfill site. So now, there isn’t enough loose soil to cover up the waste at landfill sites. Also, the inflow of waste at Ghazipur is continuous; there is not enough time to cover up the waste,” he added.

Segregate for clean air

In India, landfills are the ultimate mode for waste management. Landfill fires, especially during summers, are an essential contributor to air pollution in Delhi.

Solid waste management guidelines published in 2016 state that waste must be segregated at the source and only unrecyclable waste should be disposed at landfills.

But the reality is that all kinds of waste is being dumped at landfill sites since the system of segregation and recycling is not in place. This malpractice has turned our landfills into tinderboxes. 

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