The raging fire at Ariyamangalam garbage dump since Tuesday afternoon was extinguished on Thursday. However, fire-fighters, officials said, would remain at the spot until the smoke continuing to emanate from burnt heaps of garbage is completely put out.
Residents in Rajappa Nagar, Thideer Nagar and other localities in the vicinity of the dump where thick smog created by the raging fire caused severe choking heaved a sigh of relief. According to to Raju Rebero and Babu, residents of these localities the smell of burnt garbage could be felt even in farther places such as Rail Nagar and Ambikapuram localities.
The irritation and smell caused to the throat was perceptible, Raju Rebero added. Corporation Commissioner V.P. Thandapani who accompanied expert teams from Bangalore and Chennai to the dump yard on Thursday said the option of scientific closure of the dump estimated by a team of National Institute of Technology-Tiruchi to contain 10 lakh metric tonnes of garbage through bio-capping would be pursued vigorously as a long-term solution. The visit by the teams to the dump site follows an inspection by the Commissioner of Municipal Administration Chandrakant B. Kamble on Wednesday.
Part of the land in the garbage dump would be retrieved through vertical filling.
The height would be increased from the present five metres to 10 metres before initiating the bio-capping process and green-topping the mound, the Commissioner said.
Of the 500 tonnes of garbage the city generates, the Integrated Waste Management and Urban Services Company (Tamil Nadu) Limited (IWMUST) has been entrusted with the responsibility of segregating and processing 300 tonnes.
The agency was already disposing 100 tonnes of garbage. Another agency would have to be identified for processing the remaining garbage.
