Hawks and other birds of prey hover around the towering Ghazipur landfill on the eastern fringe of New Delhi, stray cows, dogs and rats wander at will over the huge expanse of smoking filth.
Taking up the area of more than 40 football pitches, Ghazipur rises by nearly 10 metres a year with no end in sight to its foul-smelling growth.
According to East Delhi’s superintendent engineer Arun Kumar, it is already more than 65 metres (213 feet) high.
At its current rate of growth, it will be taller than the iconic Taj in Agra, some 73 metres high, in 2020.
India’s Supreme Court warned last year that red warning lights will soon have to be put on the dump to alert passing jets.