Gurugram, Jul 11 (IANS): A fire broke out at the Bandhwari landfill site about 20 kms from the city on Sunday afternoon. No casualties were reported in the incident, a fire official said.
The cause of the fire is unknown. Fire tenders were rushed to the site.
According to the fire officials, the incident took place around 12.05 pm in the Bandhwari landfill. The fire is suspected to have been started due to a build-up of methane, a flammable gas, at the landfill due to the decomposition of solid municipal waste. The fire also spread due to polythene and other plastic waste.
"A fire broke out the top of the landfill due to which it took time to douse the flames. Ten fire tenders, five from Gurugram and five from Faridabad, were pressed into action. Also, around 40 fire personnel were present at the spot to control the blaze. It took firefighters more than eight hours to control the flames," Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Fire officer told IANS.
A major fire in 2013 had caused the Bandhwari waste management plant to become defunct. Since then, municipal bodies in Gurugram and Faridabad have continued to dump over 1,000 tonnes of untreated garbage at the site every day.