The city of Mumbai has been blanketed by a stinking, thick smog for the past week, the result of a fire in its largest landfill in Deonar. The resulting air pollution from the fire in the 326-acre garbage dump forced the closing of 74 schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The Deonar dumping ground is located in eastern Mumbai and is the largest of the three city landfills. The trash in the Deonar landfill is 30 meters high in some places, the equivalent of a nine-story building. The fire was detected by NASA sensors on Sunday, and according to the Air Quality website, SatAQ Blog, changing winds were spreading the toxic smoke into different parts of the city.
The Deonar landfill receives around 5,500 metric tons of garbage every day, and there are frequent fires that have led to many cases of respiratory disorders in residents in nearby neighborhoods. Mashable is reporting local fire officials are saying they have managed to control most of the fire, but there are still many smaller fires that continue to burn.
Three minors allegedly started the fire
On Tuesday, while BMC chief Ajoy Mehta was ordering an inquiry into why there were no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the dump site, the Divisional Fire Officer of Deonar “dropped a bombshell” in his Fire Incident Report (FIR), according to the Mumbai Mirror.
The fire was apparently set by three minors between the ages of 10 and 12, Sampat Karade reported in his FIR. According to the report, on January 29, at around 1 pm, his team of fire officials spotted three unidentified juveniles in t-shirts and shorts setting fire to the garbage. They ran away before the fire team could reach them.
