Toxic smog chokes Mumbai after another key fire at Deonar dump

Mumbai - Security at the dump is skeletal and anti-social elements including drug addicts often trigger off fires by carelessly throwing match-sticks or cigarette butts.

 Hundreds of thousands of residents in Mumbai's eastern suburbs suffered on Monday as fire continued to ravage through the Deonar garbage dump for the second day, worsening atmospheric pollution.
The quality of air across Mumbai deteriorated on Monday and the city was ranked as the most polluted in the country by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, which ranks cities under its 'system of air quality and weather forecasting and research (Safar)'.
The Deonar garbage dump, one of the largest in India, sees frequent fires but most of them are brought under control. On Sunday evening, a major fire broke out at the dump and according to residents, the fire brigade failed to control the blaze.
A similar fire at the 325-acre dump in Deonar on January 27 had affected millions of residents in eastern Mumbai and even Navi Mumbai, with many having to seek medical help for a range of ailments.
On Monday, many residents complained of breathing problems and skin allergies as the poisonous fumes from the garbage dump enveloped many localities in Chembur, Ghatkopar and Mankhurd.
Security at the dump is skeletal and anti-social elements including drug addicts often trigger off fires by carelessly throwing match-sticks or cigarette butts. After the January blaze, which raged for almost a week, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised that a couple of fire brigade vehicles would be permanently stationed near the dump to prevent a major conflagration.
However, when the latest fire broke out on Sunday evening, the fire-fighting vehicles were missing and the residents had to summon them later at night.
The fire also triggered off a war of words between various political parties. Ramdas Kadam, the state's environment minister - and a Shiv Sena leader - told the state assembly that the frequent fires at Deonar were a conspiracy by rivals of the Sena who wanted to malign the party.
The Deonar dumping ground is owned and operated by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is controlled by the Shiv Sena. Kadam said he would Fadnavis to probe the frequent fires at the dumping yard.
 

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