Ghazipur landfill fire: NGT constitutes committee headed by former Delhi HC judge

The National Green Tribunal has constituted a joint committee headed by former Delhi High Court judge SP Garg in regard to the fire at the garbage dump site at Ghazipur in Delhi and said that the situation in Delhi may be more serious with regard to the size of the garbage dump and its location in a densely populated area.

The NGT bench headed by its Chairman, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel in an order passed on April 22 said, "This requires the constitution of a multi-department Committee of concerned Departments and responsible prompt action at higher levels of the Administration."

"Accordingly, we constitute a Joint Committee headed by Justice SP Garg, former Judge, Delhi High Court with members from CPCB, DPCC, Department of Urban Development, Delhi, EDMC, Delhi Disaster Management Authority and District Magistrate and DCP, East Delhi", the Tribunal said.

It may consider the landfill dump as an isolated and vulnerable site that requires on-site and off-site fire and other disaster-management plans, the Bench added.

The NGT noted the media reports that the fire of the garbage dump site at Ghazipur in Delhi is emitting toxic smoke with potential for airborne diseases in the densely populated area. This may call for a direction under Section 15 (1) of the NGT Act to prevent any further harm to the public health and environment.

The dumping sites in Delhi and in other cities are like "time bombs" because they constantly generate explosive gases like methane which may escape through vertical and lateral ways posing a constant threat of explosion.

The NGT Bench also said that the authorities are free to take further remedial action without waiting for the report of the Committee or orders of the Tribunal and listed the matter for further consideration on May 27, 2022.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday that the Delhi Government has directed Delhi Pollution Control Committee and MCD to visit Mumbai to study the method and to find a solution to the fire incidents that took place in the Ghazipur landfill thrice in one month.

"We held a meeting with the concerned departments including the ones from IIT Delhi. What we have understood so far is that the cause of the fire is the methane gas that is produced in the dump. We have to find a way to solve the problem. The experts have opined that the problem to a similar problem was found in Mumbai where they used the Gas sucking system to solve the issue," Rai had said.

Notably, the Ghazipur landfill has caught fire for the third time in one month. After the last fire incident, the Delhi government had imposed a fine on the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. But after the fire incident for the third time, Rai summoned the MCD recently and also held a meeting with all the related departments.

( With inputs from ANI )

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