Soil continues to remain blazing at the site in Naganahalli near Shyadanahalli-Belavatha villages on the outskirts of Mysuru where a “mystery” fire had claimed the life of a young boy— Harshal.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) constituted a 10-member committee entrusted with the task of submitting a report on the incident.
This was confirmed to The Hindu by Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep, who also said that he would interact with the committee. “Some details may emerge either on Wednesday or Thursday,” he added.
The temperature of dust-like particles coming out of soil was around 120 degrees Celsius when checked during an inspection by a high-level team on Monday. Heavy downpour on Monday evening is said to have lowered the heat to some extent.
KSPCB Senior Environment Officer A.M. Lingaraju told The Hindu that the soil temperature on Tuesday was less compared to Monday. “It could be owing to Monday’s rains. The temperature was around 95C on Tuesday morning,” he said.
A team from the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers conducted a spot inspection on Tuesday and studied the entire area since “ash-like” substance was found scattered all across the vacant land.
Soil samples were collected from the spot and sent for laboratory analysis for the second day on Tuesday. At least, four days was required to study the samples, he added.
Meanwhile, the Technical Advisory Committee comprising experts from various departments visited the site on Monday and made an assessment for the cause of the “mystery” fire and has submitted an interim report to the DC.
‘Reactive substances found’
The committee, headed by Dr. Jayaprakash, said that “reactive substances” had been observed at the site. When the soil surface was disturbed, it was found that fumes at high temperature oozes out, it said.
The committee includes Dr. Sandeep Mudaliyar, Dr. B. Manoj Kumar, professor of environmental engineering, SJCE, Mysuru; Dr. S.K. Prasad, professor of Civil Engineering, SJCE, Mysuru; officers from KSPCB, officers from the Department of Mines and Geology, officers from the Department of Factories, Tahsildar of Mysuru, Mysuru Police, and the representatives from the Industries’ Association.
