‘Left to die here,’ complain locals in Ghazipur dump fire, accusing ‘politicians

Residents of Ghazipur were left gasping for air on Monday due to toxic odors from the landfill, and they were also criticizing politicians for the rubbish mountain that still ruins the city.

 

Hours after a significant fire started at the Ghazipur dump, thick clouds of smoke were still rising aloft on Monday.

The Delhi Fire Service reports that the dump saw a large fire on Sunday night as a result of the gasses generated in the enormous rubbish mountain.

15 hours have passed since the fire started. This smoke is very toxic; it is not like regular smoke. Ram Kumar from Gharoli village, near the dump, stated, “We are breathing hard and can’t keep our eyes open because of irritation.”

A number of locals told PTI Videos that they were unable to bring their kids to school because of the smoke.

They said that neither the MCD nor the municipal administration had done anything to improve their lot in life.

Fifteen years have passed. Ministers come to us only when elections are happening. However, nobody ever comes back to our door to ask if there are any issues after that. For us, this landfill is a curse. Every day, we have to put up with unpleasant odors. And now we have a number of health issues as a result of this fire. Why do the pastors want our demise?” stated Ilayas Khan.

Heart sufferer Rakesh Kumar stated he was forced to move in with his cousin since he was unable to take the suffocating feeling any longer.

“And this is not only my condition, several people are leaving their house due to the same reason,” he said.

Another local, Bilkis, noted that politicians never followed through on their pledges, which is why the waste remains where it is.

“They will now return to this place to solicit votes while expressing their worry. Nothing will occur,” she said.

Mehfuz said that the dump wasn’t this large when he bought a home in the neighborhood around 20 years ago.

“Until today, there was nothing like this enormous landfill. Why can’t the government come up with a workable solution? We can’t even bring our kids to school because of the smoke,” he said.

At 5:22 p.m. on Sunday, the fire department received a report about the incident and sent 14 fire tenders to douse the flames.