Chennai: Dumpyard fire triggers tension

Chennai: Thick smoke engulfed Chitlapakkam as the half-acre dumpyard near the lake caught fire in the wee hours of Saturday, forcing the nearby government school to declare a holiday fearing students’ safety.

The fire was noticed by residents around 5 am. Fire services department and civic body took over 12 hours to put it out. An official of Tambaram fire and rescue services station said  the fire spread towards the lake.  “Had it spread towards the other sides where a school and many residents are located, it could have been a mishap,” he added.

Residents of Chitlapakkam who stay close to the dumpyard, allege that miscreants often set the garbage afire. This posed a health hazard to them. 

“Around two lakh litres of water was pumped to put out the fire. We had been working for the past fourteen hours,” said a fire department personnel.

Anticipating tension among parents, the Chitlapakkam government high school next to the dumpyard declared a holiday. However, sources in Chitlapakkam town panchayat said the holiday had no connection with the incident.

With smoke entering the 250-odd-homes in the locality, residents went high and dry. “We could not eat as everything at our residence, including food and clothes reeked of smoke,” said S. Dhanalakshmi, a resident.

Fire accidents at the dumpyard highlighted the negligence of the civic body in monitoring waste through an integrated compost yard. The recently inaugurated Vengadamangalam project which processes waste ignores Chitlapakkam among the neighbourhood municipalities. “While waste from Pallavaram, Tambaram, Sembakkam, Pammal and Anakaputhur is processed in the facility, Chitlapakkam town panchayat is ignored despite submitting various proposals,” said a panchayat source.

Kancheepuram collectorate sources said a separate processing plant for town panchayats will be constructed at Keerapakkam.