Mumbai: 10 days after blaze, it's business as usual in Deonar

After the fire fighting operations were stopped on Saturday, 50 to 60 per cent of the dumping activity has resumed at the landfill

It has been about 10 days since the blaze at the Deonar dumping ground, which ended up coating Mumbai in a thick blanket of smog.

Prior to the blaze, about 500 trucks or roughly 3,000 metric tonnes of garbage was being dumped in the Deonar dumping ground. File pic

While fire fighting operations have been scaled down, the dumping of garbage has resumed. Prior to the blaze, about 500 trucks or roughly 3,000 metric tonnes of garbage was being dumped in the ground everyday. About 50-60 per cent of that activity resumed yesterday.

Dumping operations were resumed on Saturday, as the blaze came under control. “Operations were resumed on a small scale then. Today [Monday], they have been started on a wider scale,” informed Vijay Balamwar, deputy municipal commissioner (solid waste management).

BMC plans to start regular operations phase by phase. During the fire fighting operations, the trash was divided between Kanjurmarg and Mulund dumping grounds.

The fire brigade has brought down the number of fire engines to three, citing that the blaze is under control. 14 engines had been deployed earlier.

All the fire engines will be withdrawn by today. The fire brigade has also submitted a report to the BMC listing the sequence of events and its response to the fire. The chief fire officer has also submitted a list of recommendations to the civic body.

A committee led by deputy municipal commissioner Kiran Achrekar is now probing the matter.

Among its recommendations, the fire brigade has said that it cannot deploy men at the site 24/7. Therefore, they will be training BMC officials or the contractor in first response.

Also, the BMC will have to make provisions for a source of water for the three water tankers, which will be deployed there.

The recommendations will be submitted today.

CCTVs
The Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had tweeted on Sunday, saying that 12 CCTV cameras will be installed at the dumping ground. The same was done yesterday.

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