A fire broke out at the Bandhwari landfill on the Gurugram-Faridabad border early Tuesday morning.
At least 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Faridabad, Pataudi, Manesar, and Gurugram, along with 35 firefighters. However, it may take several more hours to extinguish the blaze.
This is the fourth fire incident reported from the landfill this month. Videos of the latest incident have been widely shared on social media.
Gulshan Kalra, Deputy Director (Technical) of Haryana Fire Services, said they received information about the fire around 5:15 am on Tuesday and alerted other fire stations to send fire tenders within 10 minutes.
Kalra stated that the fire may have been caused by the combustion of methane gas, which is highly concentrated at the landfill site. He added that the exact cause is still unknown and there is a possibility that someone may have carelessly disposed of a cigarette butt or chemicals.
Naresh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), said that their sanitation team is assisting the fire station teams in extinguishing the fire.
Environmental activist Vaishali Rana highlighted that fire incidents at Bandhwari landfill are common during summers due to the improper adherence to Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules. She emphasized the need for monitoring and enforcement to ensure compliance with regulations.
A major fire in 2013 had rendered the Bandhwari waste management plant defunct. Despite this, Gurugram and Faridabad municipal bodies continue to dump over 1,000 tonnes of untreated garbage at the site daily.
