‘Anatomy’ of a Landfill: Open Dumping Ground

The open dumping grounds are the depots of all different kinds of germs….mostly the ‘bad’ ones! Bad because those germs have tremendous potential to spread dreadful diseases in the human population, causing deadly epidemics at times! Remember 1994 Pneumonic Plague episode in the city of Surat in Gujarat? This type of plague is due to infection by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis which is transmitted into human bodies through the bites of very tiny insects called the fleas, which grow on the body of rats and the rats very happily and vigorously breed adding to their rapid population growth when they find such ‘wonderful’, ‘nutritious’ garbage ecosystem. Precisely, that was the situation in Surat in the 90’s. Practically, all the streets were The Dumping Grounds.

Anyway, more about this in some other article in future. Such incidences are of common occurrence across India. But again, in a dumping ground, if only the biodegradable waste, i. e. kitchen waste is disposed off, it will attract the population of ‘good’ germs which will eventually release all the precious nutrients form this natural waste and, in the process, will enrich the soil with the best quality natural fertilizer.

Anyway, will write about this at length in my subsequent articles. Now, coming back to the perils of open dumping. Another extremely dangerous situation that can occur at the open dumping is occasional fires. Fires at the dumping ground can be caused by various factors.

Sometimes, the heat generated by the garbage itself is so much, that the inflammable articles in the garbage dump can easily catch fire. Fire can be lit by humans either accidentally of purposely. This also applies to all those people who are seen collecting dry leaves, branches, plastics as the waste and everything that they find on the roadside, making a small heap and setting it up on fire. This is seen very commonly particularly during winter so that people can keep themselves warm enough. But fires to the dumping grounds result in release of highly toxic fumes in the air which, when inhaled by the people living in the vicinity, will certainly cause severe ailments of the respiratory passage which may further lead to chronic bronchitis, asthma and even cancer of the lungs.

Once such an incidence of fire occurs, it may keep burning for a few days to several weeks or even months.

Chances of explosions are very high as there are batteries and similar types of electrical and electric articles in that heap of garbage. Rubber tires burn adding to the obnoxious and toxic fumes. I remember one such incidence at Deonar dumping ground in Govandi area in Mumbai.

In January 2016, this very large dumping ground caught fire which eventually enveloped a stretch from Chembur to Navi Mumbai with thick smog cover.

Such recurrent fires at the dump pose grave health hazards to residents who have complained of everything from acute asthma and skin rashes to higher infant mortality rates. Even the average life span of such people gets significantly reduced.

(The author is an environment specialist. Views personal.)