‘Fear will not fill our bellies’: Why Indian waste collectors are risking their lives on coronavirus debris

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mansoor Khan and his wife Latifa Bibi have been collecting scraps of plastic and other items at an enormous landfill site on the outskirts of New Delhi for nearly 20 years. 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. Dinesh Raj Bandela, an expert in biomedical waste at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment, says there are clear protocols set by the national pollution regulator to dispose of biomedical waste. open image in gallery Disposed medical waste lies on the floor of a landfill site open image in gallery A waste collector runs behind a truck carrying rubbish open image in gallery A waste collector goes through bags of rubbish as he throws them off the truck open image in gallery A discarded mask lies among other bits of disposed medical waste open image in gallery A coronavirus testing kit lies on the floor at the New Delhi landfill site open image in gallery Bibi shields herself from the sun under a blanket with other waste collectors open image in gallery Khan washes his trousers with water after returning from work at a landfill site open image in gallery A waste collector stands inside a truck open image in gallery A woman walks through the New Delhi waste site open image in gallery A dog rests on a pile of rubbish open image in gallery Bibi hunts for recyclable materials open image in gallery A medical staff member pushes a trolley containing medical waste bags to a storage area open image in gallery Shoes belonging to Khan are left outside his home