New Delhi, April 27 (Agency) The Delhi Government will impose a penalty based on the findings of Delhi Pollution Control Committee report over the fire incident reported at Bhalaswa landfill site, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday. The state government had asked the DPCC yesterday to file a report over the incident within 24 hours. “Orders have been issued to DPCC to submit a full report of the entire incident within 24 hours. In addition, all departments have also been instructed to conduct thorough investigations about the incident. The department will take appropriate measures and impose a penalty based on the findings of DPCC,” Rai stated. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Municipal Corporations in the national capital, the Minister said the negligence in instrumenting proper garbage disposal system was the root cause behind the trash mountains in Delhi.
“The increasing cases of fire in landfill sites are the result of increasing corruption in BJP-administered MCD. The negligence of MCD from the last 15 years resulted in mountains of garbage created in Delhi. If the newly available techniques were adopted from time to time for its redressal, then today, the people of Delhi would not be living life in the dust and smoke,” he added. Rai also said that the release of methane gas was the most common cause of fire at the landfill sites, which the civic bodies have failed to resolve for over a decade. “The most common cause of fire in landfills is the constant release of methane gas, which not only causes fires, but is also hazardous to the environment. It could have been halted a long time ago, if the MCDs had done their jobs properly,” he said. “DPCC and MCD have been given orders to adopt a gas sucking system like the one installed at the dumping site of Mumbai to get permanent control of this problem in Delhi,” Rai added. This is the third incident of fire reported at garbage dumpsites in Delhi, including the massive fire incident at Ghazipur landfill site on March 28, which was finally doused two days after it broke out. Delhi Government had slapped a fine of Rs 50 lakh on East MCD in Ghazipur landfill fire case.