Residents on edge as fire breaks out again at main dump site of Ludhiana MC

Major fire had broken out at the main dump site of Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) on April 15 evening, which raged for around 19 hours and regular incidents have been reported at the landfill site since then

Fire incidents being reported for the last five days at the main dump site of municipal corporation (MC) at Tajpur road does not seem out of woods yet.

Fire fighters said smoke has also been troubling them as they have been taking up the firefighting operation at the site in Ludhiana for the last five days. (Harvinder Singh/HT)

On Tuesday again, a major fire broke out at the main dump site and five fire tenders from different fire stations were rushed to the spot.

The residents living in the vicinity of the landfill site have been facing respiratory problems due to foul smell and smoke.

Major fire had broken out at the dump on April 15 evening, which raged for around 19 hours and regular incidents have been reported at the landfill site since then.

Spread over 40 acres, around 20 lakh metric tonnes of garbage had accumulated on the main dump site of the municipal corporation. Waste processing has not been taking place at the site since February 2021, after A2Z company terminated its solid waste management contract with the city.

Everyday around 1,100 metric tonnes of garbage is generated in the city and dumped on the landfill. As per civic body officials, fire erupts at the main dump site due to generation of highly combustible methane gas amid high temperatures.

Area councillor Kanchan Malhotra’s husband Satish Malhotra said the residents are facing a lot of problems including respiratory and skin related issues due to the toxic smoke that engulfs the area after the fire breaks out. “The firefighters have been making efforts but regular fire incidents are being reported at the site. I have asked the authorities to install a tubewell near the dump site as a lot of time is wasted when firefighters have to rush back to refill the tender and the flames ignite again during that period,” Malhotra said.

Meanwhile, the fire fighters said the smoke has also been troubling them as they have been taking up the firefighting operation at the site for the last five days.

Sub-fire officer (SFO) Maninder Singh said flames reignite at the site due to generation of methane gas at the site. “The flames were doused completely on Monday night, but fire again broke out on Tuesday afternoon. Five tenders were rushed to the spot so that water could be sprinkled regularly. A fire tender has been deputed at the dump only for reducing the reaction time,” the officer said.

The firefighting operation was still going on till this report was filed.

NGO stages protest:

Meanwhile, members of Yuva NGO staged a protest at the site on Tuesday slamming the civic body over its failure to deal with the accumulated waste at the dump site.

President Kumar Gaurav slammed the successive governments and opposition parties for their failure to deal with the problem even after over ₹100 crore has been spent on solid waste management in the past. He talked to MLA (East ) Daljit Singh Grewal (Bhola) over the issue and said he will also take up the matter with the union minister Hardeep Puri.

BJP stages protest

Lambasting the municipal authorities for their alleged failure in managing the solid waste and regular fire incidents being reported at the site for the last five days, members of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Tajpur Mandal staged a protest against the MC at the landfill site on Tuesday evening.

President of BJP Tajpur Mandal, Harbans Singh Saluja, said the residents in the areas around the dump site are facing respiratory issues due to the smoke, but the authorities are not paying heed to the problem. They demanded that the authorities should find a solution for the problem, otherwise they will take the protest to next level.

MC gets approval for floating tenders to procure static compactors

At a time when the residents have been raising hue and cry over open dumping of garbage in the city, the MC has finally got approval from the state department for floating tenders to procure static compactors, which have to be installed at 22 locations in the city under Smart City Mission. The project has been hanging fire for years.

The members of Wait Ganj Market Association also demanded that the MC should shift the open garbage dump situated in their market and submitted a memorandum with mayor Balkar Sandhu on Tuesday. Mayor said the state department has given approval and soon compactors will be procured and installed at the selected sites.

After installation of compactors, the garbage will be dumped inside the machines, which will also help MC in transportation of garbage.