The East Delhi Municipal Corporation has blocked the road near the Ghazipur landfill site in order to ensure that no more lives are lost even if the site collapses again.
The road moving parallel to the drain near the landfill site was frequently used by commuters travelling from Ghazipur to East Delhi and Noida. However, now the commuters would have to use a damaged road on the other side of the drain for travelling to East Delhi or Noida via Kondli.
When City Spidey asked the reason for barricading the road, a senior official of EDMC said, “During the summers, the possibility of garbage catching fire increases and thus the entry of vehicles has been blocked. This road would remain closed from both sides until we get a solution to reduce the height of the landfill.”
In November 2016, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had signed an agreement with EDMC according to which 70 percent of municipal waste of the site was to be used for road construction. However, the project hasn't been executed so far.
Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had rapped the Delhi government and EDMC for their failure to comply with its directive to stop dumping municipal waste at the site.
On September 1, 2017, a portion of the 45 meter-high garbage dump at the landfill site had collapsed due to heavy rains. This in turn had resulted in the death of two people.
