Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru Jan 12: A meeting was conducted on Thursday, January 12 at the deputy commissioner's office to review the massive fire incident at Pachanady dump yard on January 6.

A detailed presentation was given by the Mangaluru City Corporation commissioner and the following points were briefed in the meeting.

1. Details of SWM site at pachanady,
2. Landslide at the landfill site
3. Damage at the site,
4. Actions taken by MCC
5. Fire incident timeline.

Deputy commissioner Ravikumar M R requested various industries for their opinions and suggestions to eliminate the fire and smoke from the landfill site.

During the meeting, representatives from NMPA suggested portable water sprinklers to be installed at dump yard site where the fire vehicle and water tankers cannot reach .

DC Ravi Kumar also enquired with the industrial representatives present regarding the usage of foam or powder type of extinguishers for the landfill fire. The usage of different types of fire extinguishers for different types of fires were elaborated by some of the industrial representatives present.

Recommendations and decisions

1. Mangaluru City Corporation commissioner was directed to detach the waste and remove the sandfill or soil after extinguishing the fire to prevent landslides during southwest monsoon.

2. Arrangements for water supply at the dump yard site by the irrigation department and Mangaluru City Corporation.

3. To ensure uninterrupted power supply at Pachanady till the fire and smoke are completely eliminated from the landfill site by MESCOM.

4. Arrangements of JCB, Hitachi and tipper by PWD, RTO and NHAI for the next one week and it was also intimated to inform the contractors beforehand to extend all support towards mitigation of the fire.

5. Water tankers and fire tenders shall be arranged by the MRPL, MCF, KIOCL, HPCL, NMPA, Mangaluru Airport and MSEZ.

6. The district fire officer suggested that the Mangaluru City Corporation provide a water storage tank at the dump yard site to tackle such fire incidents in future and also recommended to provide a ring main system with the required capacity of pumps and yard hydrant points every 40 mtrs around the premises.

7. Provision of easy access fire and emergency vehicles, pathways and gangways to segregate legacy waste by MCC..

8. Mangaluru City Corporation commissioner was directed to form a sub-committee to monitor the fire incident,

9. The KSPCB environmental officer was directed to lead an advisory board to guide all the industries and government bodies on how to take action and necessary measures in case of any such incidents and following directions were also given.

• To remove ambient air monitoring devices near the fire affected area because during fire ambient air quality will be polluted.
• To monitor all the fire fighting facilities in various industries in coordination with DDMA.
• To give remedial measures and technical aspects for preventing and mitigating the fire incident at the dump yard site.
• To arrange for the environmental engineers from various industries and organisations, to visit the affected site and suggest remedial measures.

At the end the Deputy Commissioner requested the industrial representatives from MRPL, MCF, NMPA, HPCL MLIF, KIOCL, Mangaluru Airport and MSEZ to extend all possible support towards MCC in controlling the existing situation.