The Ghazipur dump keeps growing and growing every year, catching fire and leaching toxins into the ground. What can be done about it?

"I saw heaps of garbage coming down the hill like a flood and suddenly, we were swept into the canal. For a moment, everything went dark," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Kumar emerged relatively unharmed. However, two others, including Kumar's cousin, were killed in the landslide.

Indian workers sort through the garbage at the Ghazipur landfill recyclable materials to sell.
Indian workers sort through the garbage at the Ghazipur landfill recyclable materials to sell. © Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Landslides aren't the only threat that this mountain of trash poses. All landfills produce a substance called leachate, which is produced when rain passes through the waste, absorbing toxic chemicals. For this reason, most landfills include impermeable liners beneath them to collect the leachate. This is not the case at the Ghazipur landfill, where the leachate flows freely into the ground and nearby canal.

As microorganisms digest the material within landfills, they produce what's known as landfill gas, which is mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide. The waste at the Ghazipur landfill is particularly prone to producing landfill gas since it is uncompacted and exposed. The combination of loose material and methane means that Ghazipur regularly catches fire, taking days to extinguish.

As one can imagine, the pollution coming from this dump is a major health risk, too. Locals claim that people fall sick more frequently in the area, and the smell makes daily living unbearable. A local doctor said that they see about 70 people per day, most of whom suffer from respiratory and stomach issues caused by the pollution.

  • The Ghazipur dump in Delhi has become so overgrown that locals refer to it as "Mount Everest."
  • In 2017, a landslide from the dump spilled over onto adjacent roads, killing two locals.
  • The dump is a serious health risk and source of pollution, but it also serves as an example of India's broader challenges with waste management.