Fire breaks out at Bandhwari landfill in Gurugram; no casualties reported

Gurugram, April 27 (IANS) A fire broke out at the Bandhwari landfill site, about 20 km from Gurugram, on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, which is yet to be doused after several hours of the incident, officials said.

However, no casualties were reported in the incident, a fire department official said on Sunday.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Fire tenders were rushed to the site, officials said.

According to fire department officials, the incident took place late Sunday night 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 at the top of the landfill side, due to which it took time to douse the flame. Several fire tenders from Gurugram, Palwal and Faridabad fire stations were pressed into action. Also, around 40 fire personnel were present at the spot to control the blaze. It took firefighters more than 22 hours to control the flames," Gulshan Kalra, Deputy Director (technical), Fire department, said.

"We immediately pressed several fire tenders on the spot. Since then, about 40 personnel have been working together trying to control the fire. It is estimated that the fire will be completely extinguished in the next few hours," he added.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) has installed six machines to detect methane gas in the Bandhwari landfill site situated on Gurugram-Faridabad Road.

According to the MCG officials, with the help of CCTV cameras, the landfill site is being monitored 24 hours a day.

Entry of any outsider in this garbage dump has been banned, MCG officials said.

--IANS

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