Fire breaks out in Cidco green belt

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The municipal corporation is likely to suspend the services of Reddy Company, which is responsible for waste collection in the city, in the coming days. Anticipating this, the company has allegedly begun neglecting its duties. Complaints have been increasing that garbage collection vehicles are not visiting neighbourhoods regularly. As a result, residents are dumping waste in open spaces and green belts.

On Thursday morning, garbage dumped in a green belt in the Cidco N-1 area caught fire. Within a short time, the blaze intensified and spread to large trees in the area. The municipal corporation’s garden section rushed to the spot and managed to extinguish the fire.

Civic sanitation workers are reportedly not collecting garbage accumulated in open spaces and green belts, while Reddy Company is also neglecting to lift waste dumped at such locations. Consequently, the garbage problem in the city is worsening with each passing day. The municipal corporation has appointed a new waste collection agency - Western Imaginary from Gujarat - whose operations are expected to begin by the end of March. Until then, the civic body will have to continue relying on Reddy Company.

On Thursday, residents informed garden superintendent Vijay Patil that a dried branch of a large tree had caught fire due to the garbage in the Cidco N-1 area. At the same time, a jetting machine happened to be passing through the area, and water was sprayed on the tree, helping to save it. However, Patil warned that the fire had weakened the tree branch, which could have fallen onto the road and caused a serious accident, posing a threat to human life.