The Delhi Police on Tuesday registered a first information report against unidentified persons in connection with the fire that broke out on Monday at Ghazipur landfill site in East Delhi, PTI reported.
“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,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said.
Meanwhile, the fire at the Ghazipur landfill site continued to rage on in some parts on Tuesday more than 24 hours after it broke out, reported PTI. A blanket of smoke has engulfed the area.
“As of now, two fire tenders are present at the fire spot and continuing the cooling operation,” said Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg, according to the Hindustan Times. Garg told PTI that it might take a few more hours to completely douse the fire.
An official told the news agency that the flames were atop a garbage mound, which made it difficult to douse.
“We cannot take the fire tenders upwards,” the official said. “The spot is vertically located and the water comes down when we spray it on the fire, which makes the task difficult.”
People who live near the landfill said they wer facing difficulty in breathing amid the raging smoke, ANI reported.
“At around 1 am on Monday, we saw dense smoke coming out of the dump yard,” Vasudev, a resident, told ANI. “We are facing difficulty in breathing as the entire area has been engulfed in dense smoke.”
No casualties have been reported in the fire.
On Monday, Garg had said that the cause of fire was yet to be ascertained. The Aam Aadmi Party has blamed the municipal corporations led by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the fire.
The Aam Aadmi Party government had ordered an inquiry into the incident and asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to submit a report within 24 hours. The committee is expected to submit its report by Tuesday afternoon.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged that such incidents have taken place at the Ghazipur landfill site earlier as well and they point to the carelessness of the BJP-ruled East Delhi Municipal Corporation, reported The Times of India.
In April, after a similar blaze was reported in Ghazipur, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had imposed a fine of Rs 40 lakh on the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
On Monday, Aam Aadmi Party Councillor Manoj Tyagi alleged that the fire broke out due to negligence of the civic body. He said that the East Delhi Municipal Corporation had bee spending a lot of money for maintenance of the landfill site.
“But if such incidents are happening despite all these arrangements, [it means] work is not being done properly and there is corruption involved,” he alleged.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and chairperson of the Environment Committee of Delhi Assembly Atishi Marlena said that the BJP-led civic bodies know that the garbage dumps are combustible but have not taken any steps to prevent it from piling up.
“Delhiites want to throw BJP out of the municipal corporations because of this very mismanagement,” she said. “This is why the Modi government has brought a Bill to postpone elections.”
Marlena was referring to the Bill introduced by the Centre in the Lok Sabha on March 25 that proposes merging the three municipal corporations in Delhi.
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