Fact Check: Debunking the Misidentification of the Ghazipur Landfill Fire as an Old Clip from Another Dump Yard

Wednesday, April 23, the fire that started in Delhi’s Ghazipur dump on April 21 was almost out. Light rains also helped put out the fire. Right now, a video of cars driving by an area that is on fire has gone popular on social media.

A lot of people shared it on social media and said it showed the fire at the Ghazipur dump. Someone on Facebook wrote, “Delhi, India. The Ghazipur dump is on fire. It is thought to be the biggest in India and maybe even the world. From its past, you can see this.

The viral video from India Today Fact Check does not show the Ghazipur dump on fire. Instead, it is from April 2022 and shows the Bhalaswa landfill in Delhi on fire.

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We found a post on X from April 6, 2022, that had the video in it by looking backwards for keyframes from the popular video. The video had writing that said, “Mukarba Chowk Delhi bypass, Garbage mound catch fire.” We also found a screenshot of the video that had been used in news stories as far back as April 2022.

The Times of India said that there was a big fire at the Bhalswa dump. You can read more about the fire from April 2022 here and here.

A fire broke out at the Bhalswa dump and burned for more than 10 days. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee fined the Municipal Corporation of Delhi 50 lakh rupees for not doing enough to put out the fire.

Of the three big dumps in Delhi, Ghazipur is the biggest. The other two are Okhla and Bhalswa. The video that went popular shows the Bhalswa landfill, which is in the northern part of the capital city. The Ghazipur dumpsite, which was recently on fire, is in the eastern part.

So, it’s clear that the video going popular doesn’t show the fire in Ghazipur.