Residents of Ghatkopar (East), Mankhurd, Govandi and Chembur were left coughing and gasping for breath. Reason being smoke emanating from the major fire that broke out at the Deonar dumping ground.
Residents of Ghatkopar (East), Mankhurd, Govandi and Chembur were left coughing and gasping for breath in the wee hours of Monday. Reason: Thick smoke and foul smell emanating from the major fire that broke out at the Deonar dumping ground on Sunday night enveloped their areas completely.
Fire brigade engines and water tankers were pressed into service to douse the fire. However, it took hours to control the blaze, while the cooling operation took another couple.
Pravin Chheda, Congress corporator from Ghatkopar, who promptly reached the site of fire, lamented the civic infrastructure as such incidents were frequent at the dumping ground. He said there was no security staff present at the site. “Ragpickers and those dealing in scrap usually light the fire in order to burn the garbage and scrap so that they can get metal from the garbage dump which they can sell. If there were security staff, such fire incidents would not have occurred,” Chheda said.
The smoke from the dumping ground fire was so thick in Ghatkopar (East) that it was difficult to breathe, the corporator said, adding: “Patients with asthma problems had a tough time since Monday morning. We have requested the BMC to take necessary steps in order to close the dumping ground as early as possible.”
With the capacity of the Deonar dumping ground getting exhausted rapidly, the civic body is gearing up to make the Kanjurmarg dumping ground operational by April, notwithstanding the strong protest against any such move lodged by the MNS.
Last year, even the Shiv Sena had opposed the decision to open the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, claiming that it would be unjustified as it might pose health hazards to the residents of the surrounding area.
The BMC had closed the Gorai dumping site 15 years ago. At the Deonar dumping ground, the second largest in the city, about 65 of 132 hectares are already closed. Out of 25 hectares at Mulund, 12 hectares will go for closure, leaving very little land for the BMC to dump the city’s waste.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Mohan Adtani said, “We will be able to complete the work on the dumping ground by the end of March, and by April, it will be operational.”
In the last general body meeting of the BMC, Sunil Prabhu had raised the issue of frequent fire incidents at the Deonar dumping ground. He had pointed out that even though contract worth Rs4,500 crore for scientific closure of the Deonar dumping ground was given last year, no work had started as yet.
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