The $5 daily earnings enable their three children to go to school, in search of a better future than their parents’ lives amid the stench of rotting garbage.
But over the past few months, increasing amounts of biomedical waste have been arriving at the dump – a result, experts say, of the novel coronavirus pandemic and a huge risk for those who work there.
Spread over 52 acres and rising more than 60 metres, the site is littered with used, plastic coronavirus test kits, protective gear and cotton stained with blood and pus – among hundreds of tonnes of waste coming daily from across the Indian capital, including small hospitals and nursing homes.
Sifting with bare hands, hundreds of scavengers including children expose themselves to a disease that has infected more than 15 million people globally and claimed over 600,000 lives.
“What if we die? What if we get this disease? But fear will not fill our bellies, that is why we have to do this work,” he told Reuters, standing outside his two-room concrete house at the foot of the garbage mountain.
Bibi, 38, said she was worried about bringing the infection home to the couple’s children, aged 16, 14 and 11.
“When I return from there, I feel afraid to enter my house because I have children at home. We are really afraid of this disease,” she said.
Dinesh Raj Bandela, an expert in biomedical waste at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment, said there are clear protocols set by the national pollution regulator to dispose of biomedical waste.
But they are not always being followed during the outbreak, he said, putting those who sift through landfills at risk of contracting coronavirus and other diseases, ranging from hepatitis to HIV.
Neither the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which runs the dump, nor India’s Central Pollution Control Board, immediately replied to requests for comment.
According to Bandela, the Indian capital used to produce nearly 600 tonnes of medical waste a day, but that has risen by 100 since the virus hit.
Khan’s shoes sit outside his home.
Khan gets ready to look for recyclable materials.
A man drives into a landfill site to offload waste from his truck.
Waste collectors look for recyclable materials at a landfill site.
Waste collectors look for recyclable materials at a landfill site.
Waste collectors look for recyclable materials.
A waste collector walks through a landfill site.
A dog rests on a pile of rubbish.
Disposed medical waste lies on the floor of a landfill site.
A discarded N95 protective face mask lies amongst other bits of disposed medical waste.
A waste collector walks along a muddy path.
A waste collector runs behind a truck carrying rubbish.
A waste collector goes through bags of rubbish as he throws them off the truck.
Bibi shields herself from the sun with other waste collectors.
Khan looks for recyclable materials.
Khan walks home carrying a sack of recyclable materials.
A waste collector carries home a sack of recyclable materials.
Khan washes his trousers with water after returning home.
Khan uses a piece of charcoal to clean his teeth.
Bibi applies cream onto her dog.
Khan’s son Latif watches a movie.
Thank you.