Two years after the December 2022 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, residents of Bhalswa village, located near a massive landfill in Delhi’s North West district, remain disillusioned. Despite lofty promises made by political parties, the locals continue to grapple with deteriorating living conditions and rising health concerns.
The landfill sites, including Bhalswa, were major poll issues during the elections, with both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vowing transformative changes. However, residents lament that these promises have not materialized.
Living Amidst a Mountain of Waste
The visuals from Bhalswa paint a grim picture: homes on the edge of towering waste heaps, children playing on dangerous garbage slopes, and eagles circling above in search of food. While some heavy machinery is visible, residents argue that it hardly constitutes a sustainable cleanup effort.
Ankit Kumar, a resident and tuberculosis survivor, highlighted the health risks, saying, “We face this problem year after year. The cows here eat plastic, and throughout the year, someone in our family is unwell. Politicians make tall promises but forget them after elections.”
Tragic Incidents Highlighting Neglect
For 60-year-old Poonam Devi, the landfill symbolizes the authorities’ apathy. She recalled how a portion of the landfill collapsed two years ago, burying her home. “They show miles of intention but not an inch of movement,” she remarked.
Rita, another resident, recounted a terrifying incident where her six-day-old granddaughter was trapped after a similar collapse. “We rescued her ourselves; no one came to help. How long can we keep living like this?” she asked.
Children Forced to Play on Hazardous Slopes
Children in Bhalswa face unique challenges. With no safe play areas, they often resort to playing on the landfill itself. Nine-year-old Arhaan shared, “We play on the garbage mountain because the park here is also filled with trash. We often get hurt by bricks and glass.”
Abdul Rahman, a 10-year-old, pointed out additional dangers. “The park is full of electric wires. Some of my friends got injured because of them. There’s nothing for us here,” he said.
Environmentalists have sounded the alarm over the dire situation in Bhalswa. Bhavreen Kandhari, an activist, noted, “Living so close to a landfill exposes residents to toxic fumes, contaminated water, and unregulated dumping. These issues harm not only the locals but also the surrounding ecosystem.”
Political Apathy as Polls Near
As the Delhi Assembly elections approach, residents remain skeptical about meaningful change. Rita expressed her disillusionment, saying, “One political party will win, take the throne, and then sit at home. Nothing changes for us.”
The residents of Bhalswa continue to demand urgent and sustained action to address the escalating crises in their area. For them, the promises made during election campaigns have become a recurring cycle of neglect, leaving their lives and livelihoods at risk.
