A report by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Kalina has stated the cause of the fires at Deonar dumping ground as ‘accidental’, even as nine scrap dealers were arrested for their connection with starting the fires. Stark differences between the scientific findings behind the cause of fire and action by police officials have left many loopholes in the Deonar fire case. There were two major fires, in January and March, and a few minor ones at the dumping ground.
The Shivaji Nagar police station, which had two offences registered with them, arrested nine people on Friday night. The nine accused are scrap dealers and residents of slums behind the dumping ground, who had allegedly set fire to the garbage dumped so as to procure metal from it. Those arrested on Friday have been identified as Shamin Khan, Hussain Sheikh, Jai Prakash Yadav, Alibaba Sheikh, Sohel Shaikh, Shoaib Sheikh, Umar Ghani Khan, Rajesh Mahadik and Mohammed Shaikh.
“The accused would send ragpickers”, most of them minors and teenagers, into the dumping ground with instructions to scour for objects like watches, keyboards, remotes and anything that classifies as e-waste.
These ragpickers would burn the plastic coating of these objects so that they melt and the inner wires could be collected,” said Sangramsingh Nishandar, DCP, Eastern Zone. He added that these wires fetch the scrap dealers good money and they would routinely do this. “On March 20, the day of the fire, the children sent inside by the scrap dealers set up their fire at a location which had high intensity of methane or some combustible substance and this led to the fire spreading across the ground,” he added.
The arrested accused have been booked under Sections 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and Section 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. All the sections imposed on the accused all include intent and knowledge of the act as requisite for the offence, but if the report by the state Forensic Science Laboratory is to be believed, the fires were caused accidentally.
Sources said that the investigators had asked the FSL to throw light on the whether the fires could have been caused due to combustible substances and the FSL has replied in the negative. “The FSL report states that the fires had not been caused due to the use of any substances like rocket fuel, diesel etc,” said a source, who had access to the report. “It further states that the fires were not caused deliberately, but was accidental in nature,” the source said.
When contacted, Manoj Lohiya, additional commissioner of police (eastern region), who is heading the high-level probe into the fire, said his report would be out in a few days and it would reveal the exact cause of the fire.
“We are looking at whether the cause of the fires was accidental, an act of mischief, negligence or sabotage. The report will also submit recommendation regarding the security around the dumping ground, which the MCGM will have to look into,” he said.
But sources revealed that the report of the high-level probe is in complete contradiction to the findings of the FSL. “The findings of the probe reveal that the act was not accidental, but caused due to the negligence of all the scrap dealers that visit the grounds,” said a police officer.
In January, a huge fire broke out at the Deonar dumping ground and quickly spread across the yard, causing the surrounding areas to be covered in heavy smoke and smog. The fire led to the whole of the eastern suburbs and some parts of central Mumbai to be covered in a thick blanket of smoke, causing health ailments in residents and also a drop in the air quality of the area. While officials played the blame game, including the MCGM, which owns the dumping ground not giving clear answers about the contractors employed at the dumping yard, the fire spread to more parts of the massive ground. February saw a minor fire at the ground and March saw the second massive fire break out at the dumping yard.
