Ghazipur Landfill Fire: FIR Registered Against Unknown Persons, Delhi Govt Seeks Report Within 24 Hrs

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under IPC Sections 278, 285, and 336 against unknown persons.

Fire at Ghazipur landfill | Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday registered a case in connection with the fire that erupted at Ghazipur dumping yard in east Delhi on Monday, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under IPC Sections 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible mat­ter), and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) against unknown persons, an official said.

“An FIR has been registered under sections 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible mat­ter) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code against unknown people,” a PTI report quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap as saying.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been directed by Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai to submit a report on the incident within 24 hours. 

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi Marlena attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the latest fire incident. She tweeted, “Now that MCD has been brought directly under the Central Govt, maybe PM @narendramodi and Home Minister @AmitShah will care to tell us how they plan to deal with the crisis of the Ghazipur garbage mountain!”. 

Now that MCD has been brought directly under the Central Govt, maybe PM @narendramodi and Home Minister @AmitShah will care to tell us how they plan to deal with the crisis of the Ghazipur garbage mountain! https://t.co/Oh8KEIq5Cz

— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) March 28, 2022

After the fire erupted on Monday, a thick blanket of smoke engulfed the landfill. Even after more than 24 hours since the incident, the blaze continued to rage on in some pockets.

Firefighting operations continued till late night. A senior fire department official said the blaze has been brought under control, and that a total of 50 fire personnel along with 10 fire tenders are working at the spot. 

“The fire is in the garbage mound and that makes it harder to douse. We cannot take the fire tenders upwards. The spot is vertically located and the water comes down when we spray it on the fire, which makes the task difficult,” the official said. 

Quoting Chief Fire officer Atul Garg, the report said that the firefighting operations are still underway and it might take a few more hours to complete the cooling process.

Also, no casualties have been reported, the fire department said. 

The call about the fire at Ghazipur’s Khatta was received at around 2:30 pm on Monday, according to the fire department.

Beer Singh Panwar, the chairman of East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (EDMC) standing committee, said that the EDMC has deployed 22 bulldozers to help in the process of dousing the fire. According to the report, he said that the fire was caused due to “high temperature” as plastic is one of the major components of the legacy waste and methane keeps getting generated.

An official said that such incidents had been reported in the past too, indicating “a lack of measures taken and vigilance observed by the EDMC to prevent such episodes”.

A total of four incidents at landfill sites took place till Sunday this year, according to the data shared by the fire department. Two incidents each at Bhalswa and Tughlakabad occurred, the report said. 

A total of 16 fire incidents occurred during the same period last year. As many as 12 incidents took place at Bhalswa, and four at Ghazipur.

The DPCC had imposed a fine of Rs 40 lakh on the EDMC after a fire broke out at the Ghazipur dumping ground.