Fire contained but smoke blanket covers Deonar area in Mumbai

Mumbai: Two days after fresh fire broke out at Deonar dumping ground, the situation continues to remain bad as a thick blanket of smoke has covered the area in Mumbai.

The smoke persists despite the fact that the fire has been contained and brought under control. The disaster management team had termed it as an incident of pocket fire.

Meanwhile, political blamegame began on the issue with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena targeting each other. While the NCP hit out at the Shiv Sena, which rules the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corportation (BMC) for incompetence, Sena called it a smear campaign ahead of BMC elections.

Jayant Patil of NCP said, "Shiv Sena is the ruling party in Mumbai municipal corporation but has not taken care of the garbage…The area around is very polluted."

This comes two months after another major fire broke out at Deonar. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had then ordered an inquiry into the fire which had covered Mumbai under thick smog for several days.

Notably, responding to a PIL by a residents' association earlier, the Bombay High Court had issued a set of guidelines to the BMC to prevent similar fire tragedies.

Here are the guidelines:

# BMC should consult IIT/NEERI to suggest maintenance measures.

# 5-member monitoring committee be constituted to oversee maintenance.

# Appoint deputy commissioner rank officer as in-charge of dumping ground.

# Deploy adequate police force to protect dumping ground from anti-social elements.

# BMC should immediately construct fencing/compound wall around Deonar.

# Steps should be taken to install CCTV cameras at strategic locations.

# BMC should immediately remove encroachments made inside dumping ground.

# BMC shall not grant development permission for new constructions.