Decline in large fires at Capital's garbage mountains, shows data

The number of fires at Delhi's three landfills have dropped consistently over the past six years from 159 in 2017 to one last year according to data the Municipal Corporation of Delhi submitted to the state environment department last month, with agencies attributing this to preventive measures and improved waste treatment processes.

According to data shared by the civic body on January 18, and seen by HT, 159 fires tore through Delhi's three garbage mountains in Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhlain 2017. This number started dipping since then. It fell to 120 in 2018, 48 in 2019, eight each in 2020 and 2021, five in 2022, and just one in 2023. There have been no fires so far this year, said officials.

The last time a fire broke out at a landfill in Delhi was on June 12 last year, when a blaze ripped.

through parts of the Ghazipur waste mountain. The fire was controlled by late that evening but smoke continued to emanate from the dump site till next day.

This is the first time in decades when there hasn't been a single fire in a landfill in Delhi after the monsoon and in the winters. In 2022, we had four major fires and one minor fire in June," said an MCD official who oversees the management of landfills in Delhi.

Officials from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) confirmed the data and attributed the dip to "better preventive measures taken by all agencies".

Siddharth Singh, programme manager of the environment governance and solid waste management at the Centre for Science and Environment, said that there was no reason to be sceptical about the number of fires going down as biomining was taking place on all three sites. "But we should wait for another summer so that the measures can be put to test for a longer period," he said.

Members of the local sanitation workers' unions said that the number of fires has gone down but they cannot confirm the exact figures. Delhi Fire Services also verified that the last landfill fire was reported on June 12, 2023.