waste pollution, an environmental and health disaster

It overlooks the eastern suburbs of New Delhi (India), from its height of 80 meters. This artificial mountain, made entirely of waste from the capital, is the city’s largest dump. Every day, an incessant ballet of trucks feeds the monster of rubbish. Seikh Rahman has worked there since he was a child. For 3 euros a day, barely enough to feed his family, he collects everything he can resell or recycle. “We are poor people. Who else would give us work? We can’t find anything better to do, we have no choice”he said.

Landfill saturated since the 2000s

Opened in 1984, the landfill reached saturation point in the 2000s, but never closed. It represents a health threat, but also an environmental one. Methane constantly emanates from the rotting garbage cans. “Methane is a greenhouse gas responsible for 30% of climate change. It’s a toxic mountain, with people living around it”, explains Shruti Sinha, head of the NGO Chintan. Thousands of inhabitants live at the foot of the landfill