Major fire breaks out at Vellalore garbage yard, second in a month

 This is the second fire incident this month as only last week another fire broke out at the dump yard. As the dumped waste caught fire, heavy winds triggered fire to spread fast. On receiving information, the Fire and Rescue personnel and Corporation staff rushed to the spot and battled for several hours to put out the fire in the yard.

However, the fire continued to rage with smoke causing inconvenience to people living in nearby residential localities. Around 1,000 tonnes of garbage sourced from 100 wards under the Corporation limits were being dumped in the yard spared over in an area of 100 acres.

 Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner-cum-special officer J Sravan Kumar inspected the fire-fighting operations at the yard.

Local residents, who were affected by the dump yard, alleged that the yard has been set on fire frequently by miscreants. It has been a long time demand for closure of the dump yard due to pollution hazard it poses.

They claimed that people fall ill regularly and suffer from problems like asthma, skin allergies, irritation in eyes and other health problems due to consumption of polluted water.

The fire incident comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu Solid Waste Management Monitoring Committee chairperson Justice (retd) P Jothimani informing that over 10 lakh tonnes of garbage accumulated in the yard should be processed through bio-mining method. The Corporation has assured that the garbage would be cleared in 24 months.