“We can still see the fire in the landfill at 6:00 pm, 30 hours after the landfill caught fire on Sunday 11 July. There needs to be an enquiry as to how this fire started. A fire department probe could reveal if this fire has been set deliberately. Often these fires are caused by trapped methane which is generated when food waste is dumped.”
This, in turn, would also bring down emissions of methane – which is one of the primary contributors of green house effect, and is around 80 times more potent that carbon dioxide.
To exacerbate the seriousness of the ecological issue, the authorities have been asked to clear a 10 acre patch within the landfill site to set up a waste to energy (WTE) plant.
WTE plants have often fallen short of serving the purpose they are designed for.
“To start with, properly segregated waste that is dry is required in large volumes to keep a WTE plant functional. Some countries have had to actually import such waste to keep these plants running,” Basu…