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Ludhiana MC officials on toes ahead of NGT visit to city over dumpsite fires
Ludhiana MC sources said that during the meeting conducted by DC too, civic body officials reiterated that the shanty fire was not triggered by fire at the dump site and there could have been other reasons. Some relatives of the family also suspect foul play behind the incident
With the monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) scheduled to visit Ludhiana on Wednesday, to probe the shanty fire incident wherein seven members of a migrant family were killed near the municipal corporation’s main dump site on Tajpur road, civic body officials remained on their toes on Monday.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu and deputy commissioner (DC) Surabhi Malik also conducted separate meetings with MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal regarding the same, as a report has to be submitted with the committee.
After the incident, it was suspected that the blaze was ignited by a splinter of burning garbage from the dump, which was situated around 20-ft away from the shanty.
MC sources said that during the meeting conducted by DC too, civic body officials reiterated that the shanty fire was not triggered by fire at the dump site and there could have been other reasons. Some relatives of the family also suspect foul play behind the incident.
MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal stated, “Civic body is not at fault and fire at the garbage dump was not the cause of the tragic incident. However, MC is working to deal with legacy waste at the dump site and tender process is going on for the same.”
Earlier on April 21, NGT had directed the monitoring committee led by Justice Jasbir Singh (retd) to present a factual report regarding the incident within 15 days. The notice was also issued to Punjab chief secretary to explain the reason behind the continued failure to deal with accumulated legacy waste at the dump site, despite repeated orders by tribunal. The tribunal has asked why accountability of the state should be not fixed under Section 15 of NGT Act. Over 20 lakh tonnes of garbage is accumulated at the dump site.
Fire incidents being reported at dump for last 11 days
Regular fire incidents are being reported from the dump site for the last 11 days. On Monday too, four fire tenders from different stations were pressed into service to douse the flames at the landfill site. Residents in nearby areas have also been raising a hue and cry over the same as the toxic smoke emitted out of the dump, has been causing respiratory problems. A major fire had broken out at the dump on April 15 and it raged on for around 19 hours. The civic body officials stated that fire breaks out due to generation of highly combustible methane gas from the garbage and rising temperature.
Other Briefs
PO held by special branch
The special branch of Ludhiana police commissionerate on Monday arrested a proclaimed offender wanted by the police in two cases of vehicle lifting lodged against him at different police stations.
The accused, Ashu Kumar of Jawahar Nagar Camp, already facing trial in five cases, was arrested following a tip-off.
Inspector Beant Juneja, in-charge at special branch, said the accused is a drum beater and works with a transgender. He is a drug addict and indulged in crime to meet his need for drugs, inspector added.
Zonal commissioner inspects ongoing road construction work
At a time when the residents have been slamming the municipal corporation (MC) for poor-quality development work taken up in the past, MC zonal commissioner (Zone C) Poonampreet Kaur conducted inspections of ongoing road construction work at old GT road, Gill road, among other areas on Monday.
Directions were issued to the contractor to expedite the road construction work and maintain quality, otherwise strict action will be taken against them.
During her visit to the Gill road, Kaur found that the contractor had stopped the work due to alleged shortage of building material. Directions were issued to commence the work from April 26 onwards.
Kaur said focus is on maintaining quality of development work and no anomalies were found on Monday. More inspections will be conducted in the coming time so that the contractors do not compromise with the quality.
