Ghazipur landfill fire incident will be investigated, says Atishi

Atishi. Pic/PTI

Delhi cabinet minister Atishi on Monday said the Ghazipur landfill fire incident will be investigated to ascertain the cause of the blaze, reported news agency PTI.

A major fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi on Sunday evening. Officials have cited hot and dry weather conditions as the likely trigger for the fire, reported PTI.

"Yesterday, Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal visited the Ghazipur landfill fire incident site. Today, Mayor Shelly Oberoi will be visiting the site to take stock of the situation. The Delhi Fire Service tenders were deployed through the night and the blaze has been doused. Some smoke is still left. We will surely carry out an investigation into the cause of the fire and the process by which it started," Atishi said at a press conference.

Thick plumes of smoke continued to rise skywards from the landfill on Monday.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, the landfill witnessed a big fire on Sunday evening due to the gases produced in the massive mountain of waste, reported PTI.

Atishi also blamed the BJP for the "mess" made in waste disposal during its tenure in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

"The height and width of garbage mountains have been continuously decreasing since the AAP government came into power... But it will take some time for the AAP government to clear the mess that the BJP has made in Delhi for 15 years," she said.

However, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Virendra Sachdeva has posed serious allegations against the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi over the Ghazipur landfill fire incident, reported ANI.

Sachdeva said that AAP and CM Kejriwal had announced that they would remove this landfill by 2023, but the game of corruption is being played, reported ANI.

"The lives of the people in adjacent areas, in Mayur Vihar and Kondli, have become hell. I too live in Mayur Vihar; I understand this. When municipal elections were being held, AAP and Arvind Kejriwal announced that they would remove this landfill by December 2023. The game of corruption is being played here. The cause of the fire should be investigated. The causes are natural; there is corruption behind this. It should be investigated, and action should be taken against the guilty," he said.

Further, the Delhi BJP chief asserted that the day the BJP formed the government in Delhi, all three landfills (Okhla, Bhalaswa, and Ghazipur) would be removed within a year, reported ANI.

"The AAP chief and the party are on dialysis. 25 machines should have been deployed here but half of the machines are not working. Who is responsible? Will Arvind Kejriwal take responsibility? The tender is not being renewed. A Standing Committee is not being formed.

Decisions are not being taken. Who is responsible? Arvind Kejriwal. The day the BJP government is formed in Delhi, all three landfills in Delhi will be removed within a year," Sachdeva said, reported ANI.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)