Flames erupt again at Bhandewadi, fire-fighting ops continue on 2nd day
| Date :21-Apr-2025 |
Uphill task: Fire-fighters engaged in spraying water on the mountain of garabge at the Bhandewadi Dumping Yard, on Sunday. (Pic by Satish Raut)
Staff Reporter :
Ten fire tenders continue to be engaged in spraying water as fire inside the dump would require a few more days to fully extinguish, said civic officials
The raging fire at Bhandewadi dumping yard reignited on the second day after remaining was suppressed during the day time. Throughout the day, fire-fighters continued to spray the water as the flames inside the huge garbage dump continued to burn intensely. Just when the civic officials thought they were done with the job, orange flames could be seen flaring-up from three to four sides of the massive garbage dump on Sunday night. Though the flames are still not sky high as it were on Saturday when the fire started, but reignition of the dump poses problem for the Fire and Emergency Services Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).
Earlier in the day, the billowing fireball at the dumping yard had subsided as the fire-fighters continued to be at the job trying to cool down the garbage dump. The Fire and Emergency Department of NMC deputed nearly 10 tenders at the spot as the fire continued to rage inside the garbage hill for the second consecutive day. The fire-fighting operations continued to pose challenge as the fire continues to simmer inside the vast garbage dump, said B P Chandankhede, Chief Fire Officer, NMC.
Chandankhede said that since there was no mechanism to spray water from top on the garbage hill, the fire-fighters were tackling the raging fire sideways. Given the volume of garbage at the yard, the task on hand is tedious and may take at least two to three days to fully extinguish the flames, he added. In fact, for Nagpur, only rains could be the saviour as it would help subside the flames quite easily, said Chandankhede. Till then, the firemen would continue with time-tested methods to extinguish the fire. As is the case, whenever such garbage dump catches fire, the fire tends to spread very fast and by the time the flames billows, out one does not know the intensity of the fire. So only when the flames started blowing over the top did the fire brigade got the call about the fire at dumping yard.
At present, the job on hand is to cool down the dump and the problem on hand is that fire-fighters cannot inch very close as the material inside the hill continues to burn steadily. So it’s quite risky to approach the middle portion of the garbage for spraying the water. Hence the fire fighters are engaged in operation to ensure that the raging temperature due to intense heat does not trigger another major fire. Right now the firemen are spraying water from Tulsi Nagar and Antuji Nagar side having gained an entry into the middle of the dump.
The good thing on Sunday was that the wind was not intense and hence the smoke was directly escaping into the sky above and not blowing sideways. Had it been like yesterday, then people in nearby localities and villages might have experienced quite a number of difficulties today also.
Dr Gajendra Mahalle, Director, Solid Waste Management, said that presence of plastic material in the garbage dump is primarily responsible for fanning the flames. Besides during the summer the garbage is quite dry and hence during high temperature they tend catch fire. Further the presence of methane inside the dumped garbage means the fire fighters have task cut out for themselves. Though the definite cause of fire is still not ascertained, it is also being investigated if someone casually threw a cigarette butt or something flammable that could have triggered the fire.
Meanwhile, Chandankhede said that the firemen are sourcing water from the hydrant at the yard and also from the well located nearby. Similarly, two to three tenders are continuously refuelling water from outside and supplying the same to tender positioned at the site. About 35 personnel are working round the clock to fully extinguish the fire. He was of view that while temperature outside might be 40 t o 45 degrees Celsius, underneath the garbage dump it is quite higher and in case any glass piece is present inside and if sun rays fall on it then it could also trigger the fire.
