Fire breaks out at MC garbage dump

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 21

A fire broke out at the MC’s main garbage dump at Tajpur Road this morning, leaving the nearby slum dwellers and factory workers to suffer due to the smoke.

An eyewitness said it was difficult to stand there as the smoke was causing irritation in the eyes and breathing problem. Even firemen, in absence of safety kits, faced difficulty in dousing the flames.

Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. After reaching the dumping site, the firefighters took more than six hours to douse the fire. However, the exact reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Kapil Arora of Council of Engineers and an eyewitness said, “It was a massive fire at the waste dump which broke out at 6:30 am, as informed by labourers. The Fire Department was informed at 9:45 am by staff of the solid waste management company. The first fire tender reached at 10:30 am. However, the fire had spread in a large area.”

Around 40-50 slum dwellers, who collect saleable items from the waste, live in the centre of the main garbage dump. “The slum dwellers residing close to the dump were mostly affected due to this fire as it was life threatening. Even I could not stand there for more than 15 minutes as it was hard to breathe there,” he said.

A fireman, who was on duty, said the flames were doused by 4 pm. As per information, no casualty or injury was reported.

On being asked about the reason behind fire at the garbage dump, Vishant Chaudhary, DGM of A2Z Group that looks after the solid waste management system, claimed it could have occurred due to the hot weather or methane gas could have caught fire.

MC’s Zonal Commissioner Neeraj Jain, who has been given charge of the health branch, said the situation was under control at the garbage dumping site. He claimed that the fire might have occurred due to the hot weather conditions.

Industrialist Babbu Jindal said smoke continued to emanate from the garbage dump in the evening.

A team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board also visited the garbage dumping site. PPCB superintending engineer Sandeep Behl said they were investigating the matter.

“The waste processing plant is not functioning properly at the site. We have already initiated action against the MC and the company in this regard. We will also take action against them for polluting the environment,” he said.

Complaint to NGT

The Council of Engineers has sent a complaint to the National Green Tribunal and PPCB about the fire incident at the MC’s garbage dump. “Such irresponsible behaviour of the MC has caused huge loss to the environment due to which inhabitants of surrounding locality are going to suffer the most for a long time as the smoke in the air can lead to lung diseases,” Council of Engineers president Kapil Arora said.

Expert views

A chemistry lecturer, Varinder Pathak said, “The gases emanated during decomposition of garbage are normally methane and hydrogen sulfide. The ignition temperature of these gases is high, so under normal condition, these gases do not catch fire. The fire might have broken out due to a human error or somebody might have deliberately set the garbage on fire.