DCW to form committee to ascertain health impact of landfills on women and children

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) is going to form an expert committee which shall ascertain impact of the landfill sites in Delhi on health of women and children living in their vicinity as well as the MCD sanitation workers at the landfill, said the DCW in an official statement on Sunday.

The Committee shall submit a report to the Government regarding this issue. On April 25, a massive fire had broken out at the landfill site at Bhalswa Dairy, Delhi. The incident caused several poisonous gasses to engulf nearby residential areas, leading to a terrible and disastrous situation having extreme adverse health and environmental impact.

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal had issued summons to Commissioner, North MCD on April 29 seeking a detailed report on the incident. Senior officials from MCD had appeared before the Commission and provided the sought information.

Unfortunately, till date, North MCD has not conducted any study or investigation to assess the impact on health and socio-economic condition of the residents living in the vicinity of the site or its own workers, especially women working in the landfill sites, said the statement.

The Commission is issuing Notices to the unified MCD seeking similar details regarding other landfill sites as well. While the Commission shall continue its investigation in the matter, it is also initiating a study on the health impact of the growing landfills in the Capital on the women and children living in the vicinity as well as the MCD sanitation workers and shall seek help from health, environment and social experts for the same.

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal stated, "This is a very serious issue. Prima facie, we have observed that North MCD has adopted a callous attitude when dealing with a sensitive issue as the growing landfills in the Capital."

"People are living around the landfill sites for many years. They are forced to live in a hell like situation and their health is severely impacted due to the same. Its very disturbing to note that unified and North MCD did not make any efforts whatsoever for cleaning the landfill site until an NGT order in 2019," she said.

"Despite expenditure of Rs 70 Crore, landfills continue to be in a worse situation every day. Also, MCD never bothered to conduct any study on solid waste management or the health impact of the landfills. Infact, its answer to the problem seems to be to simply evict the people from their homes who have been living around the dumpsite for several years. The Commission shall conduct an in depth study on this issue and give a report to the Government," she further added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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