Known as the Garbage Mountain of Delhi, Ghazipur Landfill covers an area of about 70 acres (over 50 football) and is almost as tall as the iconic Taj Mahal.

Established in 1984, on the outskirts of Ghazipur, in the eastern district of Delhi, Ghazipur Landfill reached its maximum capacity in 2002, but it has since grown into a small mountain up to 72 meters high. It is already one of the world’s largest landfills, but it continues to receive hundreds of tons of garbage from Delhi every day and is expected to grow even more. Consisting of more than 14 million metric tonnes of waste, Ghazipur Landfill has long been a plague on the millions of people who call Delhi home. The stench it emanates is almost unbearable, especially in the summer, fires routinely break out engulfing the surrounding area in a thick, toxic smoke, and its winding slopes sometimes collapse burying people and vehicles under millions of tons of garbage.

“I have only seen it grow, all governments have promised to solve this problem but do nothing,” 71-year-old Ibrahim Khan, a resident of Mulla Colony, told Sky News. “Every person living around it is getting sick, and it’s difficult to breathe. I am a heart patient and have breathing difficulties.”

In September 2017, more than 50 million tonnes of garbage came crashing down as part of the trash mountain collapsed, burying dozens of people and cars, and in April 2024, a major fire broke out at the landfill creating thick smoke that caused significant health and breathing problems in the surrounding area.

 

Towering over Delhi, Ghazipur Landfill looks like a natural hill from afar, but as you approach it, the smell alone is alone to reveal its true origin – human-produced garbage. This “Garbage Everest” may look impressive in sheer size, but the problems it causes for the environment and local population are nothing to joke about. Unfortunately, despite promises by local authorities to mitigate the damage caused by Ghazipur Landfill, no one has been able to curb its growth. Delhi produces over 11,000 tons of garbage on a daily basis, much of which arrives here, making the trash mountain even bigger.

For the world’s tallest man-made mountain, check out Germany’s Kali Mountain.