For India's garbage pickers, a miserable and dangerous job made worse by extreme heat

JAMMU, India (AP) — The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day.

“If we don’t do this, we don’t get any food to eat," said 65-year-old Usmaan Shekh. “We try to take a break for a few minutes when it gets too hot, but mostly we just continue till we can't.”

Shekh and his family are among the estimated 1.5 to 4 million people who scratch out a living searching through India’s waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. In Jammu, a northern Indian city in the Himalayan foothills, temperatures this summer have regularly topped 43 degrees Celsius (about 110 Fahrenheit).

At least one person who died in northern India's recent heat wave was identified as a garbage picker.

The landfills themselves seethe internally as garbage decomposes, and the rising heat of summer speeds and intensifies the process. That increases emissions of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide that are dangerous to breathe. And almost all landfill fires come in summer, experts say, and can burn for days.

At the Jammu landfill, small fires dotted the massive pile, sending up plumes of smoke as two men hauled a frayed tarp loaded with garbage on the day Associated Press journalists visited. A 6-year-old boy clutched an armful of plastic sandals. As other pickers occasionally sheltered from the heat, birds wheeled overhead, occasionally touched down in their own search for scraps.

India generates at least 62 million tons of waste annually, according to federal government records, and some of its landfills are literal mountains of garbage, like the Ghaziabad landfill outside New Delhi. And while a 2016 law made it mandatory to segregate waste so that hazardous material doesn't make its way to landfills, the law has been poorly enforced, adding to the risk of waste pickers.

“Since they mostly just use their hands, they are already contaminated by touching everything from diapers to diabetes syringes,” said Bharati Chaturvedi, founder of the New Delhi-based Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group.

Chaturvedi, who has worked with waste pickers for more than two decades, said extreme heat has added new risks to waste pickers who are already victims of social discrimination and appalling work conditions.

“It’s been a terrible, terrible, terrible year,” she said. “They already expect to suffer from the heat and that gives them a lot of anxiety, because they don’t know if they’ll make it, if they’ll survive it (the summer).”

Chaturvedi said this year’s heat has “been the most catastrophic thing one could imagine” adding that “It’s really very sad to look at how the poor are trying to live somehow, just take their bodies and try to reach the end of this heat wave in some form of being intact.”

Heat planning and public health experts say that people who are forced to work outdoors are at most risk due to prolonged heat exposure. Heatstroke, cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney diseases are some of the risks from working outdoors during high heat.

Waste pickers "are among the most vulnerable and highly exposed to heat,” said Abhiyant Tiwari, who leads the climate resilience team at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s India program.

In New Delhi, some people who work the capital city's estimated 4.2 million annual tons of garbage have cut back from two meals a day to just one, said Ruksana Begum, a 41-year-old waste picker at the Bhalswa landfill in the city.

"They are trying to avoid work because of the heat since if they go to work they end up spending more at the hospital than for their food,” Begum said.

Tiwari and Chaturvedi both said it's essential to give waste pickers access to a regular water supply, shade, or a relatively cool building near the landfills. They should also be encouraged to avoid working at high heat and given prompt medical care when they need it, they said.

Tiwari said India has taken significant steps to devise heat action plans but implementing the plans all across the country is a challenge.

“As a society, we have a responsibility to protect them (garbage pickers),” said Tiwari. Simple steps can help, such as offering them water if they’re standing outside people’s homes, rather than asking them to leave, he said.

Geeta Devi, a 55-year-old garbage picker also at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi, says when she feels dizzy in the heat she takes shelter and sometimes someone gives her water or food. But she has to work to earn the 150-200 rupees ($1.80 to $2.40) per day that puts food on the table for her children.

“It is difficult to do my job because of the heat. But I have no other job,” she said.

Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123

Arasu reported from Bengaluru and Nagpal reported from New Delhi.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A waste picker drinks water while working during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Waste pickers endure a miserable job that is growing more dangerous as climate change leads to rising heat. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste picker Rajdin, 17, looks for recyclable material during a heat wave at a garbage dump on outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Aamir Shekh looks for recyclable material at a garbage dump during heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, June.20, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste picker Salmaa Shekh looks outside a temporary shelter during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, June 20, 2024. Shekh and her family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Mohmad Akram drinks water under shade during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste picker Salmaa Shekh collects recyclables during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and her family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste pickers look for items that could be recycled as birds fly over a garbage dump during a heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 20, 2024. As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste pickers Arjun, 6, sorts recyclable items with his parents at a garbage dump site during a heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, June 19, 2024. As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste picker Arjun, 6, works at garbage dump site during a heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, on June 20, 2024. As many as 4 million people in India scratch out a living searching through landfills for anything they can sell. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Usmaan Shekh, right, carries, with help, a bag of recyclable material collected from a garbage dump site during a heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Aamir Shekh fills up his water bottle before working at a garbage dump during a heat wave on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Aamir Shekh puts shoes on before going to work as a waste picker during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Aamir Shekh puts on a shirt before heading out in a heat wave to a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Waste pickers Salmaa and Usmaan Shekh, right, search for recyclable materials during a heat wave at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shekh and his family are among millions of people who scratch out a living searching through India's waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his first visit to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Orbán’s press chief confirmed to Hungarian news agency MTI that the prime minister had arrived in the Ukrainian capital in the morning for the talks. Bertalan Havasi said the main topic of the meeting will be the opportunity for building peace as Ukraine fights off Russia’s invasion.

Officials in Kyiv did not confirm Orbán's arrival.

Orbán's visit was a rare gesture in a relationship that long been marred by tensions. Known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest EU ally, Orbán has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to extend assistance to Ukraine and to sanction Moscow over its war, frustrating both Zelenskyy other EU leaders.

He has also accused Kyiv of mistreating an ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s western region of Zakarpattia, a community he has used to justify his refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine or allow their transfer across the two countries' shared border.

The self-described “illiberal” leader has long been accused by his European partners of dismantling democratic institutions at home and acting as an obstinate spoiler of key EU policy priorities. The bloc has frozen more than $20 billion in funding to Budapest over alleged rule-of-law and corruption violations, and Orbán has conducted numerous anti-EU campaigns depicting it as an overcentralized, repressive organization.

This visit comes the day after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, a position that has little real power but can be used to set the tone of the bloc's agenda. Hungarian officials have indicated that they will act as “honest brokers” in the role despite worries from some EU lawmakers that Hungary's democratic track record makes it unfit to lead the bloc.

Orbán's visit also comes as he seeks to recruit members into a new nationalist alliance that he hopes will soon become the largest right-wing group in the European Parliament. On Sunday, Orbán met in Vienna with the leaders of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party, announcing the formation of the new group, “Patriots for Europe."

The trio would need to attract lawmakers from at least four more EU countries to successfully form a group in Europe's new parliament, which held elections in June. Right-wing nationalist parties across Europe strengthened their position in the elections, but ideological differences over the war in Ukraine and cooperation with Russia have often prevented deeper alliances among some of the parties.

In this photo, taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, July 1, 2024, Russian soldiers fire from the BM-21 "Grad" self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

In this photo, taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, July 1, 2024, Russian soldiers ride a quad bike and bikes changing their positions at the frontline in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

In this photo, taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, July 1, 2024, Russian soldiers ride a quad bike changing their positions at the frontline in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

In this photo, taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, July 1, 2024, Russian soldiers shoot toward an Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, June 27, 2024. When Hungary takes over the helm of the European Union on Monday July 1, 2024 many politicians in Brussels will have the same thing on their minds: whether populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will use the role to further his reputation as the bloc’s main spoiler. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)