Since Jan. 27, the city of Mumbai has been blanketed by thick smog as a result of a continuous mystery fire at its largest landfill in Deonar. The fire is so big that it has even been captured from space by NASA's Landsat 8 satellite.
The NASA image shows plumes of smoke rising from the landfill and spreading to the surrounding densely populated areas. As the fires continued to rage, air quality levels plummeted to record low levels in the city, resulting in the closure of over 70 schools. Several residents have been posting photographs of the smog on Twitter.
Day6 of breathing toxic gases. Huge Urban calamity #MumbaiSmokeCloud @kanwarsation @PriyaFonseca @VishalDadlani pic.twitter.com/rpziA1np9c— TheGynHack (@thegynhack) February 3, 2016
Regular smoggy day vs today. Spot the difference? #NotSmog #MumbaiSmokeCloud (idea h/t @sucharitachoud) pic.twitter.com/4Ixqfk8o30— Saurabh Kanwar (@kanwarsation) January 29, 2016
#mumbai #rightnow -- looks like a post nuclear holocaust scene... pic.twitter.com/YfPVPRj31H— Harini Calamur (@calamur) February 3, 2016
Located in the eastern part of Mumbai, the Deonar landfill is spread across 326 acres, with trash mountains as a high 30 metres, the equivalent of a nine-story building. It is the biggest of the city's three dumping grounds, and receives 5,500 metric tonnes of waste every day. There have been recurrent fires at the dump, leading to cases of respiratory disorders among the residents of nearby neighbourhoods.
While fire fighters have managed to control most of the fire in the last five days, smaller blazes continue to simmer in different parts of the landfill. Even though its cause remains unknown, the fire has drawn attention to the urgent need for better waste management practices in the city.