A fire broke out at Deonar dumping ground again on Sunday afternoon and kept raging for several hours.
A fire broke out at Deonar dumping ground again on Sunday afternoon and kept raging for several hours. The fire, which is a third such incident in a fortnight, has raised several questions over the preventive measures taken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The fire broke out at the Deonar dumping ground on Sunday afternoon at 3.17 pm. It was brought under control almost four hours later, around 7 pm. However, cooling operations continued at the dump site till late Sunday night, said fire officials.
According to local residents, despite the blaze being doused, smoke still kept emanating from the fire site. It also caused smog and difficulty in visibility in the surrounding areas on Monday morning.
Govandi resident Rais Ahmed said, “There was smog in the morning on Monday. The civic authorities had promised us to take elaborate measures to prevent such types of incidents in future. However, nothing has changed so far. We continue to live in a polluted atmosphere.”
Officials, however, said, it was a minor fire and was brought under control immediately. “The fire broke out at two locations in a slope area near Baba Nagar in Deonar dump site. It spread due to the speed of the winds. However we brought it in under control immediately. It was a minor fire incident,” said an official from the BMC’s solid waste management department.
To ensure that more such incidents are prevented, two fire engines have been stationed at the Deonar dump site permanently. In addition to this, the first lot of 12 CCTV cameras were installed on February 8.
