The air is thick with smoke as towering clouds rise from the largest landfill in Delhi — Ghazipur, a grim monument to the city’s ever-growing waste crisis. The stench is overpowering, the sky a murky shade of grey, and the ground beneath is alive with the relentless hum of bulldozers, pushing more waste up the towering heap.

Since 1984, the landfill has been accumulating trash for decades, rising over 200 feet into the sky and casting a long shadow over the lives of the people living nearby. Beneath the surface, toxic gases leak, contaminating the groundwater and posing a serious threat to public health.

In November 2021, Ghazipur emitted an astonishing 156 tonnes of methane per hour. The ongoing pollution from this massive landfill is an environmental time bomb, and for Malaika Vaz, an award-winning filmmaker and National Geographic explorer, it’s this environmental crisis that fuels her work.

Co-founder of ‘Untamed Planet’, a media company that harnesses the power of bold, investigative storytelling, Malaika’s work focuses on the world’s most urgent environmental threats. Her most recent documentary, Sacrifice Zone, explores the devastating effects of pollution on vulnerable communities across four cities — New Delhi, Dhaka, Baton Rouge, and La Guajira.

‘It has to mean something’

Growing up in Goa, India, Malaika’s world was defined by a constant push and pull between the untamed outdoors and an insatiable curiosity about new media. Her days were spent climbing mountains, swimming in the ocean, sailing, windsurfing, and interning at local crocodile banks.

“I had many jobs before filmmaking — from hosting a TV show at 14 to working at a crocodile bank with snakes and crocs as an intern. These experiences gave me a more holistic perspective of the world,” she tells The Better India. “But after a certain point, I realised that I could keep going on these adventures, but ultimately, it has to mean something.”

Malaika always found herself enamoured by legendary communicators like David Attenborough and Anthony Bourdain, whose documentaries connected people to the beauty and complexity of nature. By the time she was 16, she was already working on community initiatives focused on women’s empowerment, which broadened her understanding of the world and her commitment to using media as a tool for change.

“Because of where and how I grew up, I wanted to bring the environment into the mainstream, tell stories about nature and our connection with it. The goal was to make films that reach a wide audience through both traditional and new-age media platforms,” she shares.

Filmmaking as a tool for change

Malaika’s early years were steeped in experiences that left her with infinite curiosity and questions about the world around her. Through filmmaking, she found her true calling — capturing the delicate relationship between humanity and nature in ways that could change the way we see our planet.

Her documentaries take us into ecosystems on the brink, showing the impact of big industries on communities and wildlife alike. Her work has earned her accolades like the Wildscreen Panda On-screen Talent Award or ‘Green Oscar’, and a place on Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ list. But for Malaika, the real reward is in the process itself.

”What really keeps me going is actually the process of making films, truly committing to it, working with the team collaboratively, creating a vision in your head, and then being challenged for what you actually encounter in the field,” she shares.

Her approach to storytelling is first and foremost to respect the........

© The Better India