Thursday, 07 April 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The chief municipal health officer of Dehradun, Dr Avinash Khanna has filed an FIR against an unknown person or persons responsible for causing fire in Sheeshambada’s solid waste management and recycling plant on Monday where the heaps of garbage were allegedly smouldering on Wednesday as well. According to the first information report (FIR) filed by Khanna, a large quantity of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which was accumulated in the plant’s premises for a long time allegedly caught fire on Monday afternoon under unknown circumstances as mentioned by project manager of the plant Ahsan Saify to the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD). As per the report, Saify told MCD that the fire services tried to extinguish the fire but it continued to spread across the accumulated RDF lying in the plant premises. Saify has denied having any idea how the RDF caught fire, as per the report. Khanna has stated in the report that the smoke produced due to fire and the smouldering garbage are polluting the environment and can severely affect the health of those living nearby. He has asked the police to take action against the unknown culprit/s soon. Khanna informed that the MCD has directed Dehradun Waste Management Private Limited (DWMPL) that manages the plant to take necessary actions to avoid such incidents in future. The MCD has directed the plant management to form standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maintain proper safety gears. It has directed to install CCTV cameras in all sections of the plant for proper monitoring and safety purposes. The company has also been asked to ensure proper disposal of RDF, increase security, and present regular proper test reports of air and water samples of the area by the authorised lab to the corporation. The MCD has asked the company to ensure the compliance of all directions within seven days. The corporation has also formed a three-member committee to investigate the cause of the fire. Sahaspur MLA Sahdev Pundir also said that the improper operation of the plant was already affecting the locals and the fire has made their situation worse. He said that he has directed the officials concerned to find the cause of the fire besides instructing the plant management to present the documents within 15 days to prove that the plant has been constructed and is being operated as per the norms. If the management cannot prove it, the plant should be shifted to an isolated location far from the population, added Pundir.
