COIMBATORE: The bid to extinguish thoroughly the fire that erupted at the municipal dumpyard at Vellalore in Coimbatore city continued for the second day on Sunday. Fire and rescue department personnel from three districts have been on the ground since late Saturday night after being pressed in after the blaze was reported.
Meanwhile, the air quality in Coimbatore deteriorated severely on Sunday, raising concerns among environmentalists. The air quality index in the area was 172, which falls under the ‘unhealthy’ category, against the usual 100-130.
Sources said the fire was doused completely and the firefighters were indulged in putting out the smoke that had erupted. The smoke from the site posed hardship to people living nearby. Breathing trouble and other health issues were reported.
District collector Kranthi Kumar Pati, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran and other officials who visited the spot on Saturday night oversaw the operations.
Speaking to TNIE CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said that the fire had spread over 7 to 8 acres of the 50 acre of garbage piles in the dumpyard.
“Over 12 fire tenders have been deployed and around 40 tanker trucks of water are being used to douse the smoke. The firefighters have already extinguished the fire by afternoon and only work to put out the smoke is being carried out now using earthmovers, excavators and by splashing water. As part of precautionary measures, we have been stationing two fire tenders at the facility permanently to put out any fire mishaps.
The Fire and Rescue Services Department is paid a sum for it. However, additional trucks were called in from other districts as the fire accident on Saturday night was a major one. The smoke will be quelled by Monday,” he added.
The piles of garbage caught fire on Saturday night likely due to the scorching summer and the record high temperatures reported in Coimbatore this season.
The personnel of the Tamil Nadu Fire & Rescue Services along with those of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) and the district administration are on the spot leading the fire-fighting efforts. Over 100 firefighters from Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode districts rushed to the spot on Saturday night and began putting out the fire by splashing water.
Meanwhile, residents blamed the CCMC for negligence.
“Smoke engulfed the atmosphere completely and we couldn’t breathe. Already the foul smell that was spreading from the garbage piles in the Vellalore dumpyard was making our lives difficult. The fire coupled with smoke that erupted made things much worse. Despite the fire accidents occuring in the dumpyard every single year during the summer season, the CCMC didn’t take any precautionary measures this year which led to the mishap,” said G Karthik, a resident of Vellalore.
Speaking to TNIE, KS Mohan, Secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee said, “The garbage piles must have caught fire due to the methane from the wastes. People residing in Vellalore and Kanjikonaampalayam have been suffering a lot due to the smoke that has spread for over 3 kilometers. As it gets breezy in the evening, the smoke engulfs the houses. While the city s already facing a water shortage, water from several tankers has been wasted now to extinguish the fire. The CCMC must have taken proper precautionary measures.”
Mohan also added that the CCMC now doesn’t need to carry out the biomining works as the garbage has been completely burnt now. The Vellalore dumpyard is spread across a total area of 654 acres. Of them, legacy wastes were dumped on over 120 acres Phase 1 of biomining works which were carried out to clear the legacy wastes were completed only recently, said municipal sources.
