Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Apr 6: The fire that raged at the Pachanady garbage handling facility since Sunday night was brought under control on Monday morning. With the reduced quantity of smoke in the air thereafter, the people were relieved.
The fire was first noticed in the dry waste handling unit of Nature Friendly Recycle Industry that sorts dry waste inside the dumping yard and shreds and crushes the same for recycling, on Sunday night. As flames spread rapidly, machinery and equipment of the concern were consumed by flames. The Nature Friendly Recycle Industry and Dry Waste Handling concern used to make the plastic waste fit for recycling through its baling and shredding machines, and then supply the same tor recycling concern. The concern segregates about 25 to 30 tonnes of dry waste every day.
Over 20 machines including plastic dust removal, baling, hydraulic machine etc belonging to the concern were gutted in fire. Actual loss is being assessed and information about it has not yet been provided. As the unit does not function at night, no one was harmed. However, it is difficult to speculate about future handling of work here, the company representatives said.
The metal sheets covering the roof of the unit were flung away due to fire but luckily no one was harmed. The entire unit suffered very badly. At the same time, there is the question about disposing of the burnt garbage.
When plastic was on fire, thick smoke had covered a radius of nearly two km from the point. People of Devinagara, Santosh Nagara and Vamanjoor had to suffer as a result. As power supply was cut off, locals said they could not sleep at night. Vehicles were barred from using the Vamanjoor-Bondel road.
A total of eight fire tenders from Kadri, Pandeshwar and Bantwal fire brigades, and also of the airport, MCF and MRPL had been pressed into service. The fire tenders which started working at 9.30 pm, could bring fire under control at 3.30 am. Kadri fire officer, Ramesh, said that the fire gained in intensity as plastic was burning but everything was managed successfully.
City corporation commissioner Akshy Sridhar, said that actual loss is yet to be assessed. He said that the company says there was 200 tonnes of dry waste. He said that the dry waste handling unit has stopped functioning but the unit making compost from wet waste is functional. He had visited the spot immediately after fire was noticed and again on Monday. He said that tender has already been floated to fix CCTVs in the area and steps will be taken to install them as soon as possible.
The district administration has directed the city corporation to undertake a full level inquiry into the fire tragedy. Even though fire accidents had happened at Pachanady dumping yard in the past, this was the first time it happened in the waste processing unit. Therefore, the administration wants to know whether a short circuit or some other reason caused the fire.
Mayor Premananda Shetty, said that fire was noticed at Pachanady dumping yard a few months back too, and now, the waste processing unit caught fire. He said that as a precautionary measure, steps will be taken to arrange for storage of about 20 lac litres of water at the spot for use during exigencies.