MYSURU: A day after a 14-year-old boy died and another suffered severe burns after coming in contact with a highly-inflammable sand-like material at Shayadanahalli here, a four-member technical team from the Karanataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) from Bengaluru collected samples from the spot.
Senior environmental officer Ningaraju said the samples will be sent to the Central Laboratory in Bengaluru for analysis. The team suspects it to be an old dump of chemicals which might have developed a reaction due to high temperatures.
The temperature at the spot is 110oCelsius. The spot is close to Metagalli Industrial Area that has around 1,000 industrial units.
A member of the team said the material absorbs anything thrown on it. The boys got stuck in it when they went to retrieve a cricket ball.
As a precautionary measure, Deputy Commissioner D Randeep has declared up to 200 square metres from the 4.15 acre private land as a prohibited area till May 2. The Pollution Control Board has urged the DC
to impose CrPC Section 144 (unlawful to assemble), in the wake of people visiting the area in hordes.
About 400 metres away, on the other side of the Varuna canal, is RBI currency printing unit.