Bhopal: Fire continued to seethe under Adampur Chhavni landfill for the second consecutive day on Monday even as authorities have managed to contain the flames. Nearly thousands of villagers residing Adampur Chhavni (trench) continued to bear brunt of pollutant-rich smoke billowing from the landfill.
The dumping ground has been burning for last two days and the thick smoke billowing out of the site is making air toxic in nearly 11 neighbouring villages. Villagers of Kolua, Adampur, Padaria are the worst affected. A major fire had broken out at Adampur trenching site on Sunday afternoon. Besides 10 villages, residential colonies including Patel Nagar, Anand Nagar were severely affected as smoke emitting from the waste contains poisonous gasses like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide methane and ethane. The people complained of burning sensation in eyes and respiratory issues.
Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) team comprising environment expert and doctors visited villages adjoining the landfill site to look into the health condition of the residents affect by the pollutant-rich smoke. The authorities had shifted families to safer places and accommodated them at government run Ren Basera. Public transport to shift the families to their relatives and friends place was also arranged .
Fire officer of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) Rameshwar Neel said, though flames have been put off, the fire still continues underneath as smoke could be seen billowing from the garbage. “The authorities are taking all steps to completely douse the fire. Many fire fighter tenders and water tankers were pressed into job to control the fire. The fire has been contained but still to be completely doused. We are closely monitoring the site and even MPPCB team is keeping watch on all developments,” said Neel.
MP Pollution Control Board’s Dr Pushpendra Singh Bundela said, “Our team visited two villages —Kolua and Padaria in addition to Adampur. Situation is not so serious and it seems to have been blown out of proportion, said Bundela , adding that team visited two villages adjacent to Adampur trench to check the impact of the smoke on health of people. ”Exactly, how many people are affected, we cannot say, the team will file report and only then exact number of affected could be ascertained.
CMHO Dr NU Khan said, doctors team was dispatched immediately to Adampur Chhavani to provide medical assistance to people affected by polluted smoke. “There was no serious health issue reported, everything seems ok. People were shifted to safer places. Their health condition is perfectly fine,” claimed Khan
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MLA Rameshwar Sharma claimed that nearly 10,000 villagers were affected by the incident. “Administration totally failed to handle the situation. The incident has exposed the negligence on the part of authority concerned as fire is still to be completely doused at Adampur Chhavi. Gasses and smoke emanating from the landfill has affected many villagers, ” said the MLA.
