New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS): Amid row between AAP and BJP over fire at Bhalswa landfill site, the Delhi government on Tuesday constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the incident and submit its report in two days.
"Three-member inquiry committee constituted to investigate the fire at Bhalswa landfill site. Instruction to submit report in 2 days," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai tweeted this afternoon.
Ahead of MCD polls, AAP once again blamed the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi for mismanagement and its inability to clean the national capital -- one of the civic body's main tasks, over an incident of fire that broke out at North Delhi's Bhalswa landfill this Sunday.
"Every now and then we get to hear how fires break out in these landfills. On Sunday, a massive fire engulfed a significant portion of the Bhalswa landfill. Because of this, unfortunate event piles of garbage fell down around the landfill causing great agony to the residents. Such fires intensely pollute the environment and turn fatal for those living near the region," AAP Senior Leader and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak said during a press briefing on Monday.
Bhalswa landfill -- one of Delhi's three landfills, caters to about over 50 per cent of the capital's total population. These landfills pose a threat of major concern for the slum dwellers nearby. In August, a mountain of garbage about 70-80 metric tonnes fell on a nearby slum colony in which about 5,000 people live.
These landfills are the topic of topmost priority for the Kejriwal-led party in its run-up to the civic body polls due in April 2022. The party has promised to beautify Delhi if it is voted to power this time.
Responding to AAP's statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party has blamed the former for exaggerating the fire incident. "Small fire mishaps are a common occurance world over at landfill sites due to gas generations and a small such fire happened at Bhalswa on Saturday. Two days later today Durgesh Pathak raised the issue exaggerating it as a major mishap and concluded his diatribe by announcing defeat of BJP in ensuing civic elections," BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said in a statement.