Every year New Delhi welcomes people and their hopes. People from across the nation find themselves attracted to this city because of its prestige, politics, and power- thinking they might not become millionaires but would be able to afford bare necessities- food, clothing, and shelter.
However, that is a distant dream. These people find themselves in a vicious circle of selective development – always on the edge of losing it all. They make the Eighty Percent – and for them escaping the vicious circle is a generational challenge.
After the success of Borrowed Dreams: The Canadian Experience in 2023, Insight Media has worked on a docu-series called the Eighty Percent, presenting its first part Ashamed of My Capital in 2024. The national capital is the pinnacle as the administrative, political, and cultural nerve center of a country. The national capital’s infrastructure, institutions, and global connectivity play a pivotal role in shaping the country’s development trajectory and projecting its influence on the world stage. One of New Delhi’s major institutions is its MCD dumpsites or rather its mountains of trash, an infrastructure like none. Our team decided to investigate one of these institutions and arrived at the Bhalswa landfill in Rajiv Nagar of north Delhi.
Our documentary reflects upon the life of the people living around the Bhalswa MCD dumping site. It exposes the hardship and struggle people of Bhalswa are subjected to and have no control over. A skyline of eagles along with a rancid stench welcomed us at the hill. A local resident, Mohammad Ali recalls how their morning routine is no less than war being fought on the border. He states “We all are daily wage labourers not Beaurocrat. We have to wake up early in the morning, fill water from the tankers, get ready, drop our kids to school and also somehow reach our work at 9:00 every morning. It is not less than any war being fought on the border”. Another resident of the Bhalswa settlement talks about how the dumping site has taken away his prime years. For Ishak Ali breathing has become cumbersome to the point where he cannot walk two steps without losing his energy. A mother of a 10 month old baby shared about how she had to leave her child with her relatives as the fires, smoke, and leachate were making it impossible for her baby to stay with the mother.
The Julaha are the invisible layer of life separating the world from the hill of trash. This community is recognised as a scheduled caste under the Indian constitution and majority of them are rag pickers and people that work on the garbage hill. We got to know about their story hidden from the world, never part of the mainstream news, buried underneath the hill of trash. They are subjugated to methane which causes neurological disorder, cognitive impairment, and acute respiratory disorder. All of these lead to serious growth and development stunting in future generations, making sure leaving the vicious cycle of poverty and lack of social mobility is unfeasible.
The Bhalswa landfill is an un-engineered site lacking necessary technology to prevent the environment from degradation. Moreover, the landfill exceeds the limit of 20 meters of height for un-engineered landfills. Without the essential technology all that accumulates at the hill finds its way in the groundwater and the nearby water body. We decided to test the MCD water that is supplied by the Delhi government to the people living near the Bhalswa settlement, water that is claimed to be fit for drinking. The water sample was given to the Shree Ram Food and Pharma research centre to test for quality of drinking water.
The report revealed the water to be infested with high levels of calcium, magnesium, and total dissolved solids (TDS). These can cause health issues like kidney stones if consumed regularly. The presence of coliform bacteria, commonly found in sewage and waste, suggests serious microbial contamination. This makes the water unsafe and poses risks of waterborne diseases. High levels of heavy metals and hardness can damage kidneys, liver, and bones over time. This report was shared with Dr. Sandihya Bhargava, a public health expert. He relayed his views as “Heavy metals can cause severe damage to the liver, skin, it’s also carcinogenic in nature and coliform bacteria particularly can also result in severe diarrhea, which is also one of the leading causes of undefined mortality across India. Root cause, there are, uh, many root causes of it. First and foremost is industrial affluence going in the water bodies, then human waste going into water bodies, improper water disposal plant, and excess, at times, uh, to reduce the amount of, uh, bacteria or pollutants in the water. The government uses chlorine, they put chlorine into the water and at times is, uh, filled excessively.” To watch the documentary and doctor’s analysis find the link here.
The eagles circling above Bhalswa seem to symbolize the grim reality of its residents—waiting to claim the remains of their dreams, aspirations, and, eventually, their lives. The rancid stench is a metaphor for the false promises made to these people, promises as toxic as the environment they endure.
Insight Media’s Ashamed of My Capital sheds light on the plight of Bhalswa’s residents and the systemic neglect they face. To watch the full documentary and Dr. Bhargava’s analysis, click here.
The story of Bhalswa is not just about a landfill; it is a mirror reflecting the failures of urban development, governance, and humanity itself.
