Noida: It took a staggering 100 hours for the Noida authorities to completely extinguish a fire that had broken out in a dumping yard of the horticulture department, with success achieved only Friday.
The blaze that erupted on the evening of Holi, 25 March, was initially put out but then reignited after workers left — leading to a prolonged firefighting effort. As many as 150 firefighters, 12 JCB excavators and 15 water tenders were deployed to extinguish the fire.
On the night of Holi, a miscreant allegedly set fire to the plot, Anand Mohan, deputy director of the Noida Authority’s Horticulture department, told ThePrint, adding that the security guard’s pursuit to catch the person proved futile.
“The security guard tried chasing him but he escaped. By then, the place was already on fire. The guard informed everyone and the process to douse the flames began,” he said.
The sprawling 50-acre plot in Sector 32, earmarked by the Noida Authority’s Horticulture department, served as a repository for green waste — dead leaves and pruned trees. These materials were to be converted into fertilisers for nourishing parks and green spaces throughout Noida.
Notably, the plot had witnessed a similar fire in May last year, after which the Noida authority decided to create chambers to avoid the fire from spreading to the entire plot, said Mohan. Then, the department took a week to douse the fire.
When ThePrint visited the plot Friday, the smell of burnt material remained and the smoke continued to die down slowly. In the middle, the firefighters and earthmovers at the dumpyard separated burning waste — their faces obscured by smoke, some taking short breaks to drink water.
Smoke continues to fill the air even on the fourth day after the fire | Zenaira Bakhsh | ThePrint
Shift timings blurred as they toiled day and night. The challenge was not only the fire but also the smoke that veiled their vision. Ambulances stood ready, to avoid any further risks.
While the situation continued to challenge all firefighters and earthmovers, the Noida authority provided masks, water and ORS to them throughout.
“The biggest challenge for us was to work through the smoke. Initially, we could not even see anything ahead of us,” a firefighter told ThePrint.
Beneath layers of burnt leaves, plastic continued to smoulder — posing a persistent challenge even after the surface flames were extinguished.
People have been dumping plastic, including wrappers and thermocol, into landfills, making the task even more challenging, said a Noida Authority employee supervising the day shift at the dumpyard. “It shouldn’t just be our responsibility right?” he asked. “People are aware, yet they don’t know how to segregate waste. We have had to separate burning waste.”
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What next
According to Anand Mohan, the empty plot was once owned by Wave City Center. In 2007, a few years ago, when Wave could not go ahead with a planned project, it surrendered the land to the Noida Authority, which barricaded the huge plot.
On Friday, residents could breathe a sigh of relief after inhaling smoke for five days.
Speaking about the pollution levels in the area, Utsav Sharma, regional officer of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Noida, told ThePrint that the department has created stations in Noida’s Sector 32, near Golf Course and Sector 1, where the tests are being conducted to monitor the situation, the results of which will be out Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Noida authority has now decided to use the plot for commercial schemes, engaging private agencies to manage the horticulture waste once the Model Code of Conduct is lifted.
“If anyone takes interest in taking the tender, we will give them the project in a separate location. This plot will be used for commercial purposes,” Mohan told ThePrint.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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