Residents demand action as Delhi landfill fire burns for seventh day
New Delhi residents are demanding action from the government on Monday (May 2) over a fire at a landfill site on the northwestern edge of the city that has been burning for days and causing dense smoke in the area.
Firefighters have struggled to extinguish the blaze that broke out on Tuesday (April 26) at the Bhalswa landfill site.
Dense plumes of smoke have been rising from the site causing difficulties to the people living nearby.
Fumes from the burning waste forced a nearby school to close. Many of the pupils' parents work as trash pickers at the site.
"The smoke is causing pollution and we are feeling an irritation in the throat and our eyes are burning...The government should take some concrete steps so that the poor people who are living here do not suffer," said local resident Suraj.
In New Delhi, temperatures have soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for several days, and are forecast to linger around 44 C in the coming days with peak summer heat still to come before the cooling monsoon rains arrive in June.
Fires in the national capital's filthy dump yards also contribute to the toxic air that people living in the world's most polluted capital have to breathe.
