In the scorching heat of New Delhi, waste pickers like Sofia Begum and Tanzila are forced to navigate the treacherous landscape of towering garbage mountains, where temperatures can reach as high as 70 degrees Celsius (158F) in the summer. These informal workers, who earn a living by collecting, sorting, and selling recyclable materials, face extreme health risks due to the hazardous conditions.
Begum, 38, who has been working at the Ghazipur landfill site for over 25 years, says her right eye swells up in the heat, forcing her to stop working during the summer months. “My right eye swells up in the heat, so I stopped going to the landfill last year,” she explains, wiping her watering eyes. Her eye infection, caused by contact with medical waste in 2022, makes it difficult for her to work even in the winter months. “Now I can’t work as much. I used to carry 40 to 50 kilograms [88-110lbs] of waste a day. Now my capacity has reduced to half,” she adds.
The Ghazipur landfill site, which stands at least 65 meters (213 ft) high, equivalent to a 20-storey building, has become a potent symbol of Delhi’s climate crisis. The decomposition of organic waste generates heat, releasing hazardous gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which can cause long-term health complications. “These landfills are gas chambers in the making,” warns Anant Bhan, a public health researcher. “Waste pickers work in extreme heat, surrounded by toxic gases. This leads to long-term health complications.”
Tanzila, 32, who works at the Ghazipur landfill site, fainted in the scorching sun last year and now works mostly at night. “It’s just too hot now,” she says. “Now I only go at night. During the day, it feels like being baked alive.” Despite the risks, waste pickers like Tanzila and Begum continue to work, driven by the need to feed their families. “Garbage is gold to us. We don’t get bothered by the smell of waste. It feeds our families, and why would we leave?” asks Tanzila.
The government’s repeated assurances to clear the garbage mountains have yielded little results. In May 2025, Delhi’s environment minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, claimed that the “garbage mountains” would be completely cleared by 2028, contradicting his own statement from April 2025, which said they would “disappear like dinosaurs” in five years.
Experts advocate for a decentralized waste management system, where waste is segregated, composted, and recycled at the community level. Formalizing the role of waste pickers by offering legal recognition, fair wages, protective gear, and access to welfare schemes would empower one of the city’s most vulnerable communities and help build a climate-resilient waste management model.
As the situation stands, waste pickers continue to battle against the heat, stench, and illness, with little choice but to keep working. “Nothing has changed. The garbage grows, and we keep working,” says Shah Alam, Tanzila’s husband, who also drives an electric rickshaw to earn a living. “During summers, more people fall sick, and we lose workdays. But what other option do we have?”