India's huge landfills go up in flames amid record-breaking temperatures

The 36-year-old was collecting plastic and other recyclables from this garbage mountain when he saw a smoking patch at a distant spot on the landfill. He dismissed it as a small fire set off by another picker melting the plastic coating on wires to retrieve metal such as copper inside them.

"I tried to save as much as I could using a pipe," he said."But I could save nothing of our clothes or food meant for my children. Some of the scrap I had collected over days also got burnt," he added. The fire set him back by around 30,000 rupees , approximately the amount he earns in two months."With all this smoke still rising, we cannot work. Will we breathe or work?" Mr Sheikh said.

Over the years, this untreated waste in major cities such as Delhi has piled up into towering heaps, infamously compared in the media with some of India's best known tall landmarks such as the Qutub Minar, a 72.5m minaret built in the 13th century. Delhi is estimated to have more than 28 million tonnes of this"legacy waste", with Bhalswa accounting for around 8 million.

Areas under the NDMC also generate around 4,500 tonnes of waste daily. Around 2,500 tonnes of combustible waste from this is sent to a plant that incinerates it to produce electricity."The plant was set up in 2009, but gradually generation has increased. Around 2,000 tonnes more waste is being generated now," he said.

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