While fires at Delhi’s trash towers have often grabbed headlines, in national and international outlets, open burning of waste in dumpsters, parks, or on the roadside doesn’t draw the same kind of attention. Experts have, however, warned that such fires contribute significantly to the rise in particulate concentration, making air more toxic to breathe.
What is even more alarming is that such small-scale fires seem to be on the rise in Delhi, which recorded the highest PM 10 levels in the country in the last financial year.
According to data accessed by Newslaundry, in March 2025, Delhi witnessed at least 662 instances of “rubbish fires”, recording a jump of almost 72 percent as compared to March 2024.
Small-scale blazes that involve the burning of waste materials such as dry leaves, debris, and garbage are recorded as “rubbish fires” by the Delhi Fire Services. As per data maintained by the fire department, the Capital recorded a total of 4,988 instances of such last year. This year, till March 31, Delhi witnessed at least 1,081 instances of “rubbish fires”.
“These fires often break out in open areas like parks, dumping sites, landfills, and even on residential terraces where trash has been left to accumulate,” K C Gupta, in-charge of the fire department’s control room, told Newslaundry.
Experts said that such garbage fires lead to the rise in particulate matter in the air.
“Burning waste contributes to PM 2.5 pollution. A rise in the number of garbage fires would mean that levels of PM 2.5 in the air will also rise, and this is already an issue of concern for a city like Delhi,” said Manoj Kumar, a researcher with Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
A fire department official, who did not wish to be identified, highlighted “civic negligence” as a key factor behind the apparent rise in instances of garbage fires. “People openly burn their garbage, and that can escalate into a big fire,” he said.
Gupta said that many times dry leaves accumulated in parks catch fire because of heat or discarded cigarette butts. “Many times people burn garbage on their terraces. Dumping sites mostly catch fire because of the release of methane gas,” he said.
“A key concern with garbage fires is that they lead to rise in levels of particulate matter like PM 10,” said Sunil Dahiya, lead analyst and founder of Envirocatalysts, an organisation that works on environment, energy and decarbonisation.
While the fire department blames “civic negligence” for the increasing number of garbage fires, residents complain that the authorities have been lax at clearing trash off the streets.
‘Official apathy to blame’
When on a chilly March 7 morning, smoke started to engulf a neighbourhood in Bhalswa Dairy’s JJ colony, resident Muhammed Mumtaz was not alarmed. “It wasn’t the first fire I had spotted here…There are open dumping grounds around the colony. I realised it must be a case of garbage fire, and then I called the fire department,” he said.
Newslaundry visited the spot where the fire occurred and found it littered with heaps of garbage. Residents said that the garbage has filled the field for as long as they can remember. “We came here in the 2000s. Since then, this area has been filled with garbage,” said Meena Devi*, a resident.
Sunita, another resident and member of Lok Shakti Manch, an NGO that works on Bhalswa’s civic issues, said locals have repeatedly complained to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to get the trash cleared but to no avail. “The MCD officials say they regularly collect garbage in their vehicles, but if there’s trash lying outside that designated spot, they won’t pick it up,” she claimed.
She claimed that last week MCD officials had assured the residents of clearing off the garbage within seven days. “We are waiting to see what actually changes.”
Newslaundry reached out to MCD’s Superintendent (Sanitation) multiple times but our calls were not answered. This report will be updated if we receive a response.
Meanwhile, officials could not confirm what led to the garbage fire in the locality last month. “Our responsibility is to reach the site and douse the fire. We cannot determine how it started,” a senior fire official said.
Residents from other localities have also accused authorities of being apathetic to the problem of open waste burning.
In R K Puram’s Sector 3, residents alleged that indifference by the concerned authorities has transformed a once-functional park into a dumping yard. A month ago, a huge blaze engulfed the park in question causing panic in the neighbourhood.
“It became hard to breathe. The fire had been put out by the residents, but the smoke lingered for hours,” said Vendan Singh, a resident. “The smoke blanketed the entire neighborhood. That’s when I called the fire services.”
According to official records, it took the fire department over 17,000 litres of water to extinguish the smoke.
Residents were not sure of the cause of the fire.
As seen by Newslaundry, the spot still remains covered in construction debris, dry leaves and garbage.
“We have complained to the MCD to take the garbage out of here. The MCD says it’s the Central Public Works Department’s responsibility. The latter says it’s the others. We are tired of complaining,” said Mayank, a resident.
An MCD worker told Newslaundry that the park was on CPWD’s land and it wasn’t the civic body’s responsibility to clean it.
A CPWD staffer, however, claimed that the land did not belong to the department. “It’s the MCD’s,” he claimed.
While officials passed the buck, several patches of burnt dry leaves lined the streets of R K Puram, as observed by this reporter.
Alleged civic negligence and purported official apathy have also together contributed to garbage fires in the Capital on some occasions.
For instance, at least two cases of garbage fires were reported from East of Kailash on March 9. On the night when Indian won the ICC Champions trophy, cinders from celebratory firecrackers set fire at two spots in the South Delhi locality where waste had accumulated.
Meanwhile, fire officials expect incidents of garbage fires only to rise in the coming months. “We see a spike in garbage fires in summer, especially during the hot months from April to June,” said the senior fire official quoted earlier in the report.
Last year, out of the 4,988 garbage fires, 2,189 cases were reported between April, May and June alone.
*Name changed.
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