NEW DELHI: A recent survey conducted by Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group found that
climate-induced disasters
badly impact
waste-picker communities
. In all, 80.9% waste pickers said they faced occupational hazard and
health issues
during
landfill fires
.
A media monitoring exercise by Chintan also indicated landfill fires to be a regular disaster as 80% of waste pickers said they occurred commonly. The NGO said an actionable solution was diverting wastes from landfills, reducing dumping and segregation of waste.
Apart from putting landfill workers and those residing near it at direct risk of losing their lives, income and property, such waste-dump fires, it also worsens Delhi’s air quality. The respondents from the survey reported that toxic fumes led to difficulty in breathing.
The survey was conducted to understand the natural and human-made disasters faced by informal waste workers and 94 people participated in it. Media monitoring was done from 2016 to 2021 to identify issues. Shruti Sinha, manager, policy and outreach, Chintan, said, “Landfill fires aren’t the only disaster. Parts of the landfill also collapse regularly. Our survey shows 56.4% of waste pickers have been impacted by such collapses and 88.3% feel ill-equipped to deal with such occurrences. Segregation of waste is key. Disaster management training is needed for at-risk workers. Responsive policy measures can prevent such disasters from occurring and reduce its impact.”
“Emissions from landfill sites also contribute to
climate change
and it is only going to get worse. When heat and heaps of mixed waste come together, such a disaster becomes common. The solution is to segregate waste, compost wet waste and divert garbage from landfill sites,” added Sinha.
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