COIMBATORE: Fire broke out at Somayampalayam dump yard, and sparked fears of wild animal intrusion into human habitation as it is situated along the forest boundary on the Western Ghats. The public and environmentalists have urged the local body to shift the dump yard from the place to avoid such incidents in future.
On Thursday, around 6.30 pm, a fire broke out at the dumped garbage. After being informed by the locals, the Fire and rescue department reached the spot and extinguished the fire within two hours.
Following the incident, the forest department deputed additional staff to the Bharathiyar University campus due to apprehension over wild elephants' intrusion into the nearby area. Onlookers at the place claimed that after the fire, an elephant herd came out of the forest boundary. However, the forest department denied the claim.
TK Ashok Kumar, District Forest Officer (DFO), said, "Following the incident, our staff were deputed to patrol to prevent wild animals' movement into the habitation. However, any such incident occurred yesterday. As the dump yard is situated 70 meters from the boundary, we have been insisting Somayampalayam panchayat not dump waste at the place. Also, we have written a letter to the Assistant Director of Rural Development over the issue."
N Loganathan, a resident said, "During the summer, the wild animal's intrusion into the plains will be more. This time, the threat started in January itself due to the dump yard. As there is no fencing, wild animals start roaming around the area at night hours. Shutting down the dump yard is the only remedy to the issue.
Somayampalayam panchayat president KP Rangaraj said, the segregation centre built with an outlay of Rs 23 lakh, is halted due to technical problems and they are working to rectify it. "As the panchayat is situated close to the Coimbatore City Corporation limit, we do not have any land to dump waste except the place. We have made a requisition with the collector to allocate land for the process." Collector GS Sameeran said he will look into it.