Dry leaves catching fire on the rise, Noida residents seek authority’s help

Anand Mohan, deputy director, horticulture department, Noida authority, said dry leaves are removed twice a week from city roads and sectors

Following multiple incidents of heaps of dry leaves in residential sectors catching fire as summer temperatures rise, residents of Noida on Monday complained to senior officials of the Noida authority and asked them to get the dry leaves removed at the earliest from residential areas.

Noida residents on Monday complained to senior officials, asking them to get the dry leaves removed at the earliest from residential areas after a major fire on Monday morning at Meghdootam Park. (HT Photo)

The complaint was prompted by a major fire on Monday morning at Meghdootam Park in Noida’s Sector 50.

“The fire was reported around 7am, following which firefighters were rushed to the spot and the fire was controlled after an hour. It is suspected that the fire was started by a spark from a cigarette that someone was smoking,” said Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, chief fire officer, Noida.

“The fire started in a heap of horticulture waste that was lying dumped in a corner of the park. The park is surrounded by 18 high-rise societies and such a fire is a huge hazard for those living nearby,” said Rajiva Singh, a resident of Sector 50 and president, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners’ Association (NOFAA).

“We have a gas pipeline running through the locality and that too is under heaps of horticulture waste.This is the situation in almost all sectors and needs to be addressed immediately to avoid a major fire incident.”

Sanjeev Kumar, president of Sector 51 Residents’ Welfare Association, took to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about the problem.

“The contractor of the horticulture department was requested several times not to keep more horticulture waste in the park than necessary. There is always a fear that these dry leaves may catch fire. Similarly, dry garbage is kept in the Block C Park of Sector 51, the removal of which has been requested by the RWA several times, but no one is ready to listen,” he said.

In another incident in Sector 117, Noida, a heap of dry leaves caught fire at 3am Monday.

“The fire was doused by the security guards in the area. It started due to a spark from the transformer installed in the green belt of the sector, where a heap of dry leaves was lying collected. Thankfully, the security guards were alert, and woke up nearby residents and the fire was doused using submersible water,” said Kosinder Yadav, president of Sector 117 RWA.

Following the incident, the RWA also wrote to Noida authority. “Authority officials are requested to please make some alternative arrangement as soon as possible for these dry leaves collected at various places in the city, so that such untoward incidents do not happen,” the RWA wrote.

Chaubey said such incidents have increased. “Every day, we are getting at least 10 such complaints. This is a matter of concern.” he said.

When asked, Anand Mohan, deputy director, horticulture department, Noida authority, said dry leaves are removed twice a week from city roads and sectors.

“While dry leaves are removed from main roads and arterial roads on a regular basis, such waste in parks and green belts are not removed as they are supposed to be remain there and decompose naturally. This is a common practice. Places where horticulture waste is dumped is always covered with mud so that it settles into the earth. Noida authority cannot be held responsible for these fire incidents,” he said.