Burning dumpyard adds to summer woes at Hyderabad's Nizampet

HYDERABAD: Residents of Nizampet in Hyderabad are facing a double whammy, a brutal heatwave and a raging fire in the dumping yard in an area of 15 to 20 acres nearby. According to the residents, it has been four weeks since the dump yard has been on fire, persistently emitting carcinogenic fumes.

“The situation is extremely grim because the air is always full of smoke making it difficult to breathe. We have asked the municipality to take action. In the past, the Municipal Commissioners used to send water tankers to douse the fire. But this time, no one is bothered. In a perfunctory measure, only once water tankers were sent but they could not put out the fire. The heatwave is helping the fire to continue to rage with more intensity,” said Nanda Kishore, a resident of the area.

Currently, the dump is nearly 10 feet high and is burning in several pockets. “Apart from being a pollution hazard, it is also a fire safety issue because so many homes are there just 50-100 metre away, making it extremely dangerous if left as it is,” added Kishore.

It was learnt the Nizampet Municipality is supposed to carry the segregated waste to the Jawaharnagar dump yard and use the existing space only as a transfer station. However, the garbage does not appear to be reduced in size.

In fact, a writ petition had been filed this year in Telangana High Court to close the dump yard, to which the HC passes an order on February 24 stating that the respondent, Nizampet Municipality,  must “take appropriate action and conclude it within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order”. However, to this date, the issue stands unresolved.