India, June 4 -- New Delhi

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday directed the Delhi-NCR state governments to carry out a fire-risk assessment of sanitary landfills and dump sites, following proper identification, categorisation, and demarcation of waste. It directed them to adopt preventive measures, including the installation of CCTV cameras and methane gas detectors, to prevent future landfill fires, as it could lead to a spike in particulate matter and release harmful gases such as NO2, SO2, CO, dioxins and furans.

The pollution body also asked agencies to carry out extensive biomining or bioremediation at landfills to liquidate the legacy waste, as per the targeted timelines already submitted to the Supreme Cou...