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Ludhiana: Panic grips residents after massive blaze engulfs Tajpur dumpsite
The fire started at around 9pm on Tuesday night and continued till Wednesday evening, leaving the residents of nearby colonies and villages gasping for breath
Plumes of toxic smoke engulfed the surroundings after a massive fire broke out at the municipal corporation’s main dumpsite in Tajpur which continued throughout the day on Wednesday, creating panic among the residents and highlighting the humongous problem of mounds of waste accumulated at the site spread over 40 acres.
The fire started at around 9pm on Tuesday night and continued till Wednesday evening, leaving the residents of nearby colonies and villages gasping for breath. Fire brigade officials deployed as many as five tenders at the location. Such was the gravity of the fire that each of the fire tenders was refilled over 20 times.
With the rise in temperature in the summer season, the dumpsite hosting around 25 lakh metric tons of organic and plastic waste sees massive fires every year. In April last year, as many as seven members of a family living nearby the dump in the hut were charred to death after the fire at the site engulfed their shanty.
The National Green Tribunal had directed the civic body to deposit a sum of ₹100 crore with the district magistrate towards interim compensation for the death of seven persons.
Apart from the legacy waste which stands at over 25 lakh metric tons, daily 11,00 metric tons of waste collected from the commercial and residential establishments on a routine basis is also dumped at the site.
The fire incident on Tuesday left the residents of nearby colonies, including Mahavir Jain Colony, GK Estate, Puneet Colony, Naamdev Colony, and Kakka village panic-stricken as the smoke turned the residential areas into gas chambers.
Vishal Singh, a resident of Kakka, said that despite several announcements to resolve the problem of the waste which is increasing day by day, there has been no change in the lives of residents.
He said, “The residents belong to the working-class group and do not have any option but to live in the sense of fear every day and inhale the polluted air.”
A fire department official said that one fire tender from different sub-fire stations remains deployed there permanently so that the fire can be stopped immediately. He said that during summers, the city witnesses fire incidents regularly and the fires at the dumpsite hamper the functioning as the department already faces an acute staff crunch.
MC health officer Vipal Malhotra said that the fire took place due to methane gas. He said that due to heat, the gases form and get trapped inside the dump leading to fire.
MLA Ludhiana East Daljeet Singh Grewal said that he has instructed the MC and other concerned authorities to take the necessary steps.
MC yet to start the second phase of the Bioremediation project
To dispose of the waste accumulated at the site, the MC launched the bioremediation project which is to be completed in two phases.
While the project to dispose of 5 lakh metric tons of legacy waste through the process was started in November last year, authorities are yet to initiate the second phase of bio-remediation of the legacy waste under which around 20 lakh metric tons of waste will be disposed of in a scientific manner.
