A portion of the Bhalswa landfill site in northwest Delhi collapsed on Monday and several shanties located nearby were reported to have been buried under the debris. However, no casualty has been reported so far, officials said.
Sources in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation told IANS that rescue teams have reached the spot and relief operation is being carried out.
“The rescue operation is being carried out from the rooftop of the building adjoining the dumping site. No casualty was reported so far,” said a North Delhi Municipal Corporation official.
The Bhalswa landfill site is an open dumping ground created in 1984 and is spread over 70 acres. It reached a saturation point in 2006 but still receives nearly 2,100 metric tonnes of mixed waste every day.
The Delhi civic body official said continuous rain resulted in the collapse of the dumping site. However, the municipal authority swung into action immediately to ensure that no other part of the site collapsed.
It is not the first time such an incident was reported in Delhi. Earlier in 2017, a portion of the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi collapsed due to which two people died.
Delhi has three landfill sites — Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa where nearly 8,000 tonnes of daily generated municipal waste is dumped.