Fire at Bandhwari landfill again, smoke engulfs areas off GCR, SPR

Gurgaon: Thick smoke engulfed areas off Faridabad Road and residential colonies on Golf Course Road (GCR) and Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) on Monday as a fire broke out in Bandhwari landfill, the second in the last 10 days. Three fire engines rushed in to tackle the blaze, which raged on for nearly seven hours.
Eleven fires have been reported from the landfill this year, the previous one on Oct 12 when the fire raged on for nearly 48 hours.The civic corporation ascribed the frequent fires to the combustion of methane gas emanating from decomposing waste.
"Heat generated during waste processing produces methane that in turn leads to fires. We are actively cutting the methane gas and have stationed fire engines on-site to quickly douse any fires that occur," municipal commissioner Narhari Bangar told TOI.
After the Oct 12 fire, MCG had deployed staffers — three shifts of 8 hours each —for the site's round-the-clock surveillance. Additional commissioner Balpreet Singh had then said that the staff members would be penalised if there were any more fires.
Residents of several nearby villages including Bandhwari, Mangar, Dera, Mandi, Gwal Pahari, Baliawas, Kadarpur, Behrampur and Ghata, meanwhile, complained about irritation in eyes, nose and throat, nausea, and other respiratory difficulties due to the toxic haze.
"The recurrent fires at Bandhwari make life in these villages miserable. Villagers, young and old, have been grappling with respiratory problems due to the proximity to the landfill. There is a pressing need to enhance waste management practices. Meticulous segregation of waste at source and efficient processing is pivotal in preventing such fires," Bandhwari sarpanch Harbir Harsana said.
A recent affidavit, submitted by the MGC to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), revealed nearly 9.6 lakh metric tonnes of waste in the landfill are lying unprocessed. Additionally, 2,200 tonnes of waste are transported daily from Gurgaon and Faridabad and dumped at the site. In the three months, between June and Aug, the MCG's waste processing agency managed to treat approximately 4,000 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily, compared to 8,000 MT in May.
Environmentalists have advocated for measures such as segregation of waste at source, efficient waste processing and alternative waste management facilities to alleviate the burden on the landfill. Green activist Vaishali Rana suggested a drone survey and ground truthing of garbage mounds to evaluate the magnitude of the problem.