India's 'fragrant' rubbish dumps

Authorities in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) have been dousing rubbish dumps with perfume to lessen the putrid stench.
Municipal workers have been spraying two landfills in the city with herbal perfume for the last six months after residents complained of the stink.
Locals say perfuming the rubbish has lessened the stench. Environmentalists say it is an unsustainable solution.
Mumbai has a population of nearly 18 million, and generates 8,500 metric tonnes of rubbish every day. Nearly 500,000 people live near rubbish landfills.
Officials say that the stench from the landfills in Deonar and Mulund was so great that local residents started protesting.
So the authorities hit upon the novel idea of dousing the landfills with perfume to kill the stench.
A herbal perfume diluted with water is sprayed over the landfills almost every day.
The perfume costs $114,000 for 42,000 liters, which is required to "perfume" the landfills for between six to eight months.
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