A fire broke out at the dump yard in Chitlapakkam around 6.30 p.m. on Sunday. Residents noticed the flames and alerted Panchayat officials.
Fire and Rescue Services arrived around 8.30 p.m. and controlled the flames in about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, residents complained that the Firefighters did not respond to the first call and arrived only after a second call was made after 8 p.m. The Panchayat had started clearing the dump yard in early October. Although the process was only supposed to take two to three weeks, about 6,000 tonnes of waste still remain.
Executive officer of Chitlapakkam Panchayat Venkatesan said that more than half the waste had been transported to a scientific landfill in Kolathur and the remaining would follow in a couple of weeks.
