Noida garbage blaze rages on for 4th day, smoke chokes residents

At least 4 million litres of water has been used to douse the fire so far, officials said, most of which has been sourced from the Sewage Treatment Plant

Noida:

Noida chief fire officer Pradeep Chaubey said the department hopes to douse the blaze completely by Friday evening. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Firefighting measures at the dumping ground in Sector 32, Noida, continued on the fourth day even as the fire department tried to contain the massive blaze that broke out on Monday evening.

According the fire department, the blaze was reported on Monday around 6pm from the dumping ground, where green waste from across the city is dumped by Noida authority’s horticulture department.

At least 4 million litres of water has been used to douse the fire so far, officials said, most of which has been sourced from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) by the Noida authority.

Noida chief fire officer Pradeep Chaubey said the department hopes to douse the blaze completely by Friday evening.

“While managed to bring the fire under control during the first three days after it broke out. The firefighters are now faced with the challenge of controlling smoke billowing from the ground, which is at least 30 feet deep. It is filled with dry leaves, twigs and branches,” the officer said.

The high wind speed is causing problems for the firefighters, said Rahul Gautam, fire officer at the Sector 58 station. “The fire gets reignited due to strong winds,” he added.

A spot check showed that surface winds directed the heavy smoke towards Sector 35, whereas localities on the other side including Sector 31 and 30 were less impacted.

Utsav Sharma, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, who is monitoring the situation, said that the wind direction recorded by the manual air quality monitoring systems was towards the west, which includes sectors 35, and 38. While Sector 35 houses residential locality, Sector 38 is largely comprises the Noida Golf Course.

NP Singh, president of Sector 35 Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) informed that some families in the sector have left their homes until the situation is brought under control.

“At least five families in the sector who have toddlers have left their homes for their relatives’ homes in Delhi or other places, to save their kids from inhaling the smoke. Every year at least twice we have to face this situation,” said Singh.