Despite such practice being illegal, it continues unabated. Surprisingly, the authorities seem to be participating in these gross violations of environmental norms.
The burning of leaf litter has once again become a common sight across Dwarka. The leaves are first dumped at dhalaos and then burnt.
One such incident was reported from the dhalao of Sector 5 on April 1.
A resident of Sri Agrasen Apartments of Sector 7, AK Parashar, who was present at the spot, shared some photographs with City Spidey. He said, “On March 31st, I noticed burning of garbage at a dhalao near Sector 5 market around 3.30 pm. The heavy smoke made my eyes sting. I immediately complained to the authorities.”
He continued, “Again on April 1, at around 12.15 pm, I again noticed heavy smoke coming out of the same place. Meanwhile, an SDMC truck filled with dry leaves offloaded its haul at the same spot despite my request to not do so. I managed the mobile number of the contractor from the two employees in the truck. I took the help of Green Circle, an NGO, to get the names and phone numbers of the authority officials, but couldn’t get in touch with anybody, as it was a holiday.”
An SDMC truck is seen offloading its haul at the Sector 5 dhalao
A PCR arrived at the spot, and the fire brigade was immediately informed. But, the fire tender took more than an hour to reach the spot.
He added, “The authorities failed to take steps despite my repeated complaints. Furthermore, two SDMC employees should have been there at the dhalao. But I couldn’t find anybody.”
A resident of Lovely Home Apartments in Sector 5, Vishal Gupta, said, “I have also noticed fire at the dhalao a few times. This is not acceptable. I request the authorities to take measures to stop such illegal practices in the sub-city."
A fire tender arrived at the spot to douse the flames at the dhalao
SDMC officials were, however, not available to respond.
