New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has formed a joint committee which will be headed by former Delhi High Court judge SP Garg in regard to the Ghazipur dump site fire in the national capital. The NGT said that the situation may be more serious than it looks due to the size of the dump site and the dense population that lives around it, news agency ANI reported.
The NGT bench headed by its Chairman, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel in an order passed on April 22 said that this would require a multi-department Committee and responsible prompt 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 was quoted by ANI.
The Bench noted that the dumping site is a vulnerable site which requires on-site and off-site disaster management plans. Further noting media reports, the Bench said that the fire at 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.
Dumping sites are “time bombs” which release explosive gases methane, which may escape through vertical and lateral ways posing a constant threat of explosion.
While the matter is listed for May 27, 2022 the NGT Bench said that the authorities are free to take further remedial action without waiting for the report of the Committee or orders.
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.
Ghazipur landfill has caught fire for the third time in one month. After the last fire incident, the Delhi government 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.