Firefighters in New Delhi today were trying to contain a fire that broke out three days ago in a huge landfill in the Indian capital, as northern India faces a extreme heat wave.
Meteorologists predict that the temperature in New Delhi today may reach up to 46 degrees Celsius. Authorities have issued a warning and advised vulnerable citizens to avoid leaving their homes.
This morning, about 30 firefighters were still battling the blaze in areas of the landfill where access is difficult, said a fire official, adding that he expects the fire to be under control by Friday.
No casualties have been reported so far, and authorities are investigating the cause.
At least 10 fire engines were trying to extinguish the blaze on a 60-meter-high rubbish mountain in Balsua, northern New Delhi, overnight Wednesday through Thursday, with heavy smoke making it worse. air pollution city’s.
The metropolis of more than 20 million inhabitants does not have the necessary infrastructure to manage the 12,000 tons of waste generated daily.
Three other fires have broken out in less than a month in the Indian capital’s largest landfill, Gazipur, a huge 65-meter-high mountain of rubbish.
Experts attribute these fires to the heat that is hitting the city. According to Pradip Handelwal, a former head of New Delhi’s waste management service, all of these fires may have been caused by extremely high temperatures that accelerate the decomposition of organic waste.
“Dry and hot weather causes the release of excessive amounts of methane into landfills, which leads to the outbreak of fires,” he explained.
In the New Delhi temperatures from March are recorded well above normal. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 40.1 degrees Celsius last month, the highest recorded for this month since 1946.
Heat waves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010 and scientists attribute the increase in frequency and intensity of the phenomenon to climate change.
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