Delhi is the heart of India. Historically, the place has always been the capital of the country. Architectural structures surrounding the place–The Qutub Minar, TajMahal, and Rashtrapati Bhavan–stand testimony to this fact. They are places that commemorate the people in power, no matter which century they belong to. But there is one structure that shows the folly of the people in power–The Mount Everest of Trash.
The Ghaziabad landfill opened in 1984. In 2002, it started to overflow and hasn’t stopped since. In 2017, part of the trash from the landfill killed two people because it collapsed. And in 2019, the garbage was about to reach the height of the TajMahal. Gautam Gambhir, the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Delhi, said he reduced the height of the landfill by 40 feet. The MP did not take away the trash completely but, at least, the landfill is not reaching the height of the Qutub Minar and the TajMahal.
Every day, at least 2000 tonnes of garbage is mounted on the pile that is in the Ghaziabad landfill. That makes up to 10 metres worth of trash. This is not the only landfill in Delhi but it is the oldest one. The other two are Bhalswa and Okhla. Both have already been declared spent but the municipal personnel still dump trash there since they have no other place to go. After two people were killed because of the Ghaziabad “landslide,” all three of them were shut. The government identified another landfill at Rani Khera but the people protested against it.
As a result, Delhi did not have garbage dumps. The city had to rely on dhalaos instead. A Dhalao is a three-walled structure where garbage is dumped. If it’s not taken care of, the garbage overflows. This brings it onto the streets and attracts stray animals, not to mention the horrid smell the residents have to deal with. The unpleasant sight of garbage on the street is an added penalty.
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