Garbage on fire went on for hours, agencies unsure who doused it

A major fire broke out near the fragile flood zone of the Hindon river, adjacent to the Hindon elevated road on Friday. According to residents, the fire lasted for

A major fire broke out near the fragile flood zone of the Hindon river, adjacent to the Hindon elevated road on Friday. According to residents, the fire lasted for many hours until the fire department doused it -- or at least that is what they thought.

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The Uttar Pradesh pollution control board (UPPCB) claims that they informed the fire department, and the city municipal corporation confirmed that they went along with the fire officials to douse it. The fire department, on the other hand, said neither did they receive any information, nor did they go to the spot.

The area is an illegal dumping ground and despite many attempts to control it, it continues unabated. Environmentalists in the area say that many such incidents had been reported from the area in the past few years that have contributed to worsening air quality.

“The fire is usually lit by some miscreants in the area, either those who are dumping the waste or scrap collectors or some others. The area is full of flammable material and the fire soon goes out of control,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist. “Today’s fire started early morning near river Hindon and raged on for hours before it came to our notice. The UPPCB officials were alerted about the incident and thereafter, the fire was doused.”

“We had informed both the corporation and the fire department. The corporation officials said that by the time their sanitary inspector went to the spot, the fire had already been doused,” Utsav Sharma, regional officer of the UP pollution control board.

“Our staff went along with the fire department officials and doused the fire,” said Mithlesh Kumar Singh, city health officer of the municipal corporation.

“I confirmed with the two fire stations at Kotwali and Sahibabad, we did not receive information about the fire near the elevated road. So, none of our fire tenders went to the spot,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer.

So who doused the fire?

“I am deputing one officer to get the fire incident inquired and also directing Ghaziabad development authority and the municipal corporation to take responsibility of any fire incidents in their respective jurisdiction areas,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

In 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed that those violating garbage dumping norms be fined ₹20,000 and also told authorities to take strict action in this regard.

“We have time and again raised the issue and despite the directions in our petition the instances of burning of garbage near the river have not stopped. In February, there was yet another massive fire in the area and fire tenders had to be called. The fires are generally ignited by ragpickers and scrap dealers who dump waste and flee,” said Vikrant Sharma, a city-based environmentalist and a lawyer. “Since the Raj Nagar Extension is an open area, dumping of garbage and fire at dumps are common occurrence. The fires not only damage the flood plains but also give rise to air pollution which is already on higher side in the city.”

“In September, we had four incidents of fire reported in the city,” said UPPCB’s Utsav Sharma “We will impose Rs 5000 penalty in case of a spot fire and Rs 25000 in case bulk waste is set afire. One more complaint of spot fire was received on Friday and we imposed Rs 5000 penalty.”

Ghaziabad is on the list of 15 cities in Uttar Pradesh with high levels of air pollution.

According to the figures of the UPPCB, the city in 2019 recorded 31 days with “severe” category of air on the air quality index (AQI). It had 67 days with “very poor” air and 112 days with “poor” AQI.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe.”

In his recent visit to Ghaziabad on September 19 and later in a review meeting, Bhure Lal – the chairperson of the Environment (Pollution and Control) Authority (EPCA) had directed Ghaziabad officials to put curbs on burning of waste in wake of approaching winter season when air pollution increases.