ENVIRONMENT – Delhi Fire Brigade have been battling a blaze that broke out at one of the Indian capital’s huge garbage dumps for three days, as an extreme heatwave raged in the north of the country. as can be seen in the video at the top of the article.
As of this Thursday morning, April 28, four brigades, or around 30 firefighters, were still fighting the fire in hard-to-reach areas of the landfill, a capital fire official said, adding that the blaze could be brought under control from Friday.
No casualties were reported and authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire. At least 10 fire engines fought their way through Tuesday night into Wednesday night as the fire engulfed the 60-meter-tall pile of rubbish. Not to mention that the thick smoke adds to the already existing air pollution.
repeat fires
The megalopolis of more than 20 million people lacks modern infrastructure to process the 12,000 tons of waste it produces every day. Three more fires broke out in less than a month at the capital’s largest landfill, Ghazipur, a gigantic mountain of rubbish 65 meters high.
Experts attribute these fires to the scorching heat currently hitting the city. According to Pradeep Khandelwal, ex-Head of Delhi’s Waste Management Department, all of these fires are likely caused by the extremely high temperatures that accelerate the decomposition of organic waste. “The hot, dry weather creates excess methane gas in landfills that ignites such fires,” he explained.
extreme temperatures
Since March, the city has experienced temperatures above seasonal norms. Delhi recorded a high of 40.1 degrees in March, the hottest temperature recorded in the capital that month since 1946.
Meteorologists predict that temperatures this Thursday in the capital could reach up to 46 degrees Celsius. Authorities have therefore issued a warning and advised vulnerable people to avoid going out.
Heat waves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010, and scientists say they are becoming more frequent but also more severe due to climate change.
See also on The HuffPost: New Delhi closes its schools for a week in the face of pollution