Delhi school closed for a week due to Bhalswa massive fire incident

The landfill site caught fire on Tuesday. The fire department received information about the blaze around 6 pm following which 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

School closed due to Bhalswa Landfill Fire

Due to a massive fire in the Bhalswa area raging for over 20 hours, Gyan Sarovar School, a child resource centre for underprivileged children of rag-pickers living near the Bhalswa landfill site in north Delhi, has been closed for a week. According to a PTI report, a thick layer of smoke has engulfed the area making it difficult for children to breathe, said Father Santhosh, Director of Deepti Foundation, which runs the school.  

He further added, "There is a thick layer of hazardous smoke in the area making it difficult for children to breathe and the whole area is foggy and hence the visibility is low. The school has been closed for a week.”

The landfill site caught fire on Tuesday. The fire department received information about the blaze around 6 pm following which 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Later, three more fire tenders were pressed into service. Fire officials are still making efforts to douse the fire. Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to submit a report on the fire that broke out at Bhalswa landfill within 24 hours.

Soon various videos of the incident went viral on the internet. The videos showed the blaze engulfing the mountain of garbage, sending a dense plume of smoke into the sky and exacerbating the already polluted air in nearby areas.

The Ghazipur landfill has seen three such fires since March 28.

The wet waste dumped in a landfill produces methane when it rots. In hot weather conditions, methane catches fire spontaneously and the blaze spreads as it feeds on combustible materials like textiles and plastics.

Asked about how does the school function in case of frequent fires, Father Santhosh said, "Usually, it’s on the other side of the landfill and not on the side where the school is situated. We do see smoke up in the air from a distance at times but it is never this unbearable".

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