India's tallest rubbish mountain is on course to rise higher than the Taj Mahal in the next year, becoming a fetid symbol for what the UN considers the world's most polluted capital.
About 2,000 tons of garbage are dumped at Ghazipur each day. Taking up the area of more than 40 football pitches, Ghazipur rises by nearly 33ft (10m) a year. At its current rate, it will be taller than the iconic Taj in Agra, some 239ft (73m) high, in 2020.
In 2018, a section of the hill collapsed in heavy rains, killing two people. Fires, sparked by methane gas coming from the dump, regularly break out and take days to extinguish. Leachate, a black toxic liquid, oozes from the dump into a local canal. Residents say the dump often makes breathing virtually impossible.
Indian cities are among the world's largest garbage producers, generating 62 million tons annually. Waste has become a huge challenge as India's growing wealth drives consumerism and the production of extra garbage that the country cannot dispose of properly.
