Deonar ground burns again, locals fume

As a cover up, BMC hinted that Friday’s fires may be the result of children bursting crackers inside the ground.

Mumbai's dreaded October heat has also brought back the Deonar dumping ground fire. Three small fires were reported at the dumping ground on Friday afternoon after which, the fire brigade pressed four fire engines to the spot. But it still took them over an hour to douse the fires.

The fires have raised the spectre of larger fires breaking out at the dumping ground. As a cover up however, BMC hinted that Friday’s fires may be the result of children bursting crackers inside the dumping ground.

P. Rahangdale, Chief Fire Officer, said, \"We suspect these fires are due to some fire crackers that were burst inside the dumping ground. They were small fires and there is no cause for concern.\"

Meanwhile, almost four months after the dumping ground fires ceased, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta on Friday afternoon held a review meeting of the status of amenities at the dumping ground.

Deputy municipal commissioner of the solid waste management (SWM) department, Vijay Balamwar, said, \"We took three major decisions in Friday's review meeting. We have decided to install a beat chowky at the entrance of the dumping ground. Even though we have banned rag pickers from entering the dumping ground premises, many of them still access the area, on motor bikes and small vehicles to carry garbage out. The police chowky at the entrace will be able to keep this in check.\"

Mr Mehta has also asked the SWM department to speed up dumping debris on the garbage to break its interaction with the atmosphere. Mr Balamvar said, \"Work will start right away, and is expected to be complete within a month's time.\"