Major fire breaks out at Adharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan

A major fire broke out at Adharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan (West) on Wednesday, engulfing the entire area with thick smoke.

This is the first incident of fire this year.

There were two major fires at the dump yard last year in March and June.

Four fire tenders of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) started fire-fighting operations. Nine water tankers were at the site working to douse the fire till late night.

“The fire broke out around 1.20pm and thick smoke covered the area. The blaze kept spreading and the fire was bought under control by evening. However, work is on to douse it entirely. It will continue till late night,” said Dilip Gund, chief fire officer, KDMC.

The smoke released from the dump yard covered Shivaji Chowk, Agra road, Adharwadi, Khadakpada and Tilak Chowk.

“The fire is under control but the smoke is still billowing. It was a major fire and due to strong winds, the fire is spreading and it becomes difficult to douse it completely. Our team and fire officials are trying to douse and control the fire,” said Umakant Gaikwad, deputy municipal commissioner, solid waste management department, KDMC.

As soon as the fire broke out residents living in the area took to social media, posting photos and complaining about the polluted atmosphere.

“My house is at least a kilometre away from the dump yard but I could smell the smoke and the air was suffocating. Like last year, the waste caught fire and the authorities are helpless,” said Sajitha Nair, 37, a resident of Adharwadi, member of Alert Citizen’s Forum, Kalyan.

“The forum had come up with several measures to curb fire incidents. Our team had introduced effective measures like spraying solution and decomposing the waste. But there was hardly any support from the civic body,” added Nair.

Every day, around 650 metric tonnes of waste is dumped at Adharwadi dumping ground without any segregation and processing by KDMC.

In the standing committee meeting of KDMC, which was on at the headquarters on Wednesday while the fire broke out, corporators highlighted the need to curb fire incidents.

“I have directed the civic officials to come up with effective measures to curb fire incidents,” said Vikas Mhatre, standing committee chairman, KDMC.

Last year in June, a major fire broke out at the dump yard.

Due to the repeated fire incidents, civic body chief Govind Bodke had said that the dump yard would be shut soon. However, the closure is still pending.

“The closure of dump yard will be possible only if our waste processing plants start functioning. One of the scientific landfilling at Umbarde has started functioning while the other at Barave has not. The civic body is working on it,” said Gaikwad.