‘We douse one smouldering ember… another starts': Firefighters toil at Bandhwari landfill in Gurgaon
Since 7 am, they have been trying douse smouldering embers at the landfill, where a massive fire had broken out on Saturday night, suspected to be triggered by a forest fire in the Aravalli Range.
Located at the border of Gurgaon and Faridabad districts, the landfill has come up on Aravalli land. Saturday's blaze was the fourth such incident to be reported from Bandhwari this month.
On Tuesday, while no flames were visible at the landfill, fire-fighters were busy bringing under control smouldering embers.
Assisting Chauhan were fire-fighters Ranbir Dhankar and Sunil Kumar. 'If we don't keep the water at a low pressure, we would likely slip and the fire may grow,' said Dhankar, who along with Chauhan are attached to the Bhim Nagar fire station.
On 8-hour shifts beginning 7 am, the men – wearing only cloth masks and basic boots as part of their safety gear — head for lunch around 2 pm. 'We take turns with other firemen when we have to eat. For drinking water, we have to go towards the main road,' Chauhan said.
Asked about the nature of their jobs, Chauhan said, 'We do not do anything brave. It is our duty.'
Since Sunday morning, Chauhan, Dhankar and Kumar have been working to the site, where at least four fire engines are currently stationed.
'Each fire tender lasts around an hour… two just left to refill water. This takes around two hours depending on how far is the source of water,' Chauhan said.
Tuhi Ram, attached to a fire station in Ballabhgarh, said each tender can carry 7,500 litre of water, of which one is used every hour. They are currently refilling from a tubewell in Faridabad, located 25 km away from the landfill.
Claiming that he is on a 24-hour shift, Ram said, 'Some of us are on 12 hour or 24 hour shifts… Until the smoke clears up, we will be here.'
Asked why the blaze is yet to be fully doused, fireman Raju Tanwar (39) said, 'We douse one smouldering ember and another starts… We cannot work faster as the water pressure has to be maintained.'
Last year, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had given a deadline of four months, till March 3, to have the landfill remediated – flattened and cleared of legacy waste — officials said, adding that around 13 lakh metric tonne of solid waste is present at the site, of which nearly 9 lakh metric tonne is legacy waste.
Nikesh Manderna, Gurgaon Municipal Corporation's Executive Engineer, said: 'The progress has been slow. We have sought an action plan from the two private companies tasked with clearing the landfill… if needed, additional machinery will be deployed… Also, we have imposed a fine of Rs 3.7 crore so far on the two companies.'
On the need to send only segregated and treated waste to the landfill, Manderna said, 'We have sent a seven-year action plan in this regard for approval to the state government last week. Hopefully, it will get sanctioned and we can issue tenders soon.'
Environmental activist Vaishali Rana, meanwhile, dismissed the MCG and the fire department's claims that the latest blaze had spread from the Aravallis to the landfill. 'Forests don't catch fire when the temperature is 39-40 degrees Celsius. This time, the fire had started at the landfill and spread to the forest because of methanation.'
Methanation is a natural process in which methane gas is produced as a byproduct of the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfills.
'There is zero treated waste at the landfill, which receives fully unsegregated waste. Why is the civic body allowing collection of mixed waste for dumping at a forest site…,' Rana asked.
Neelam Ahluwalia, founder member of People for Aravallis, added: 'Toxic landfills such as Bandhwari need to be removed from the eco sensitive Aravalli. If all of Gurgaon and Faridabad's waste is segregated at source, and dry waste is recycled, then only 15-20% of the waste will have to be sent to the landfill.'
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