Fire at Vellalore dump yard

Fire broke out at the Vellalore dump yard on Monday evening. The fire breakout comes even as the Coimbatore Corporation has initiated measures to clear the waste into a landfill.

Fire rages in the Vellalore dump yard in the city on Monday. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

According to K.S. Mohan, president, Kurichi Residents’ Welfare Association, the fire broke out around 6.30 p.m. and spread quickly after being aided by strong breeze.

The breeze also helped the smoke spread far and wide, he said and added that residents in the vicinity were affected.

The Corporation is spending Rs. 12.56 crore to close the waste in a landfill. It has thus far removed 35,000 cubic metre waste. The total waste that the civic body needs to remove is around 8.5 lakh cubic metre.

Sources say that fire was put out by 8.45 p.m. It will not affect the land filling operations as the place of fire was at the southern end of the dumped waste.

They say that the Corporation was keeping an eye on the waste even as it was processing and shifting the waste to the landfill.

The previous fire at the Vellalore dump yard was about a couple of months ago. It was a major accident as the fire raged for over two days. The Corporation had to press its vehicles, those from the Rapid Action Force and also from Fire and Rescued Services to battle the flames.

It is not just the fire that troubles the residents. Flies and odour make up for the fire’s absence.