Mumbai (The Hindu): The fire at Deonar dumping ground continued to simmer for the third consecutive day on Saturday and threatened to snowball into a huge political embarrassment for the Devendra Fadnavis government ahead of the Make in India event which is less than two weeks away. The fire that broke out on Thursday early morning continues to trouble the civic authority even as it refused to die down on Saturday morning, sending the civic authorities into a tizzy.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation deployed a team of 21 officers and 132 fire fighters to control the fire and smoke.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade deployed 14 fire tenders each containing 4,500 litres of water, two mini water tenders (water mist), eight water tankers each containing 12 to 18,000 litres of water, three ambulances and breathing apparatus van. Over 150 litres of Jet Cool Solution was dispatched to be used with the help of the mini water tenders along with enough number of bulldozers, said an officer from BMC.

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta deployed senior officers and Deputy Municipal Commissioner Prakash Patil, Chief Fire Officer Prabhat Rahangdale were present at the site. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Western Suburbs) Sanjay Deshmukh handled the main control room of the Disaster Management cell.

By 7 pm, civic sources said the fire was under control and smoke had reduced, but the firefighting operations were going on till late night.

Authorities suspect that some mischief mongers had intentionally fuelled the fire, and an FIR was lodged against an unknown person at Shivaji Nagar police station.

State Health Minister Deepak Sawant said, “There is a possibility of poisonous elements in the smoke harming people. The government has taken this very seriously, and held discussions with the civic and health officials who will take precautions.”

The civic body also issued an advisory to the residents in north eastern suburbs such as Chembur, Deonar and Ghatkopar to cover their nose and mouths with wet handkerchief and suggested use of black goggles to protect eyes as from the smoke. Due to the thick smog, over 74 municipal schools run in Ghatkopar, Chembur, Mankhurd, Govandi and nearby areas remained closed for the second day on Saturday.

The Opposition was quick to slam the Fadnavis government over the continued smog and dumping ground fire.

“First solve the dumping ground issue and then only then think of ‘Make in India’ in Mumbai. First ‘Make Mumbai’, then ‘Make In India’. We will protest at Bandra Kurla Complex grounds and show all foreign investors the fumes and smoke of dumping ground. Let the whole world also see what Shiv Sena-BJP has done at the BMC for many years,” NCP leader Sachin Ahir told reporters.

Minutes later, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, “Spoke to Mumbai Municipal Commissioner. He assured that no stone will be left unturned to control the smoke at Deonar.”

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, and BJP’s group leader in the BMC, Manoj Kotak, visited the dumping ground at 5.30 pm and urged the Chief Minister to order a probe the reason behind the fire, and why could it not be doused for three days, as well as the impact on the pollution on Mumbai residents. Around 7.30 pm, the CM spoke to civic chief Mehta. “BMC Commissioner informs that smoke at Deonar is substantially under control. I’ve asked CP, Mumbai to enquire into possibility of a sabotage.”

Photo credit: The Hindu