Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain Monday expressed serious concern over the fire at Bhalaswa landfill site and directed civic authorities to ensure such incidents do not recur, officials said.
The minister convened a meeting of senior officials of the environment department and the three corporations, representatives from various agencies, including the Delhi Fire Services and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), to review the preparedness of the municipal corporations in handling the incidents of any fire at the sanitary landfill sites at Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla.
"The commissioners of the three municipal corporations did not attend the meeting," the environment department said in a statement.
"The minister expressed serious concern at the fire breaking out at Bhalaswa, since Delhi is already bracing itself with the adverse impact of stubble burning in the neighbouring states which is likely to aggravate air quality of Delhi in the coming days," the statement said.
Hussain emphasised that in such a situation, all stakeholders, departments and agencies in Delhi must ensure that local factors do not adversely impact the air quality of Delhi.
The minister enquired about the action taken by the NDMC in extinguishing the fire at Bhalaswa landfill site.
More From This Section
Officers of the EDMC said that so far as management of Ghazipur landfill site is concerned, they have prohibited the entry of ragpickers, including children into the site. There is posting of adequate staff for round-the-clock monitoring of the site for preventing any unauthorised entry, the statement said.
In addition, the site is being monitored with CCTVs, the officers said.
Officers informed that a dedicated fire tender has been kept on stand by to meet with any untoward incident. In addition, the EDMC is also working on slope stabilisation for averting sliding of the garbage.
He asked the NDMC and SDMC to make necessary arrangements for fencing the sites, preventing entry of ragpickers and children inside the sites, provision of high mask lights within 15 days, posting of adequate staff for round-the-clock supervision of the sites.
"All the municipal corporations were also directed to regularly maintain logbooks for recording the incidents of breaking out of fire and action taken thereon," the statement said.
"The officers of the three corporations also informed that the three sites are primarily not scientifically designed and all of them have exceeded their prescribed garbage storage capacities," it said.
They are in the process of developing new sanitary landfill sites and waste-to-energy plants for better disposal and processing of waste.
The minister directed officers of Delhi Fire Services to deploy one fire tender exclusively for putting out fire at Bhalaswa site.
The DPCC was asked to coordinate with all the three municipal corporations, efforts to prevent fire incidents.
The minister also asked for speedy development of scientifically engineered landfill sites and for installation of waste-to-energy plants by municipal corporations so that the ever increasing garbage quantum is properly disposed, processed and managed, the statement said.