Fire at 3 places controlled: Activists, locals question how incidents were dealt with

Bhopal: A major fire broke out at the Adampur waste dumping ground on Tuesday and later at a dump near gate number 9 of BHEL, as well as in forests near WALMI hillocks at Kaliasot on Thursday.
The fire has been largely controlled. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) fire officer Sourabh Patel, while talking to TOI, said that the fire at all three places has been controlled, though smoke may still be coming out, particularly at the BHEL site where the fire erupted on Thursday.
The fire at the Adampur waste dumping site broke out on Tuesday and continued until Thursday. The fire in the tiger movement corridor at Kaliyasot forest near WALMI, according to environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan, has destroyed completely or partially forests in 50 to 60 acres of land. He said that the forest department was not in a situation to douse the fire or contain it, though the district forest officer (DFO) reached the site after the fire was reported. Khan said that only after the fire spread to staff quarters inside WALMI premises did the attempts to extinguish the fire intensify.
Once that happened, district collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh, local MLA Rameshwar Sharma, and other officials reached the spot, and more fire tenders arrived, and fire fighting began in earnest. However, ‘blade fencing' on the WALMI boundary wall acted as a major impediment in the fire fighting,said Khan, who was at the site until late.
BMC fire officer Sourabh Patel said that it was only after the fire came to affect human habitation that their role started, though they tried to help douse the fire at Kaliyasot. But it was for the forest department to contain the fire in the forests, as they do not have the wherewithal to control the jungle fire. Eyewitnesses said that the forest department, too, did not seem to have an idea on how to control the fire, nor did they have the required equipment or vehicles.
Bhopal: A major fire broke out at the Adampur waste dumping ground on Tuesday and later at a dump near gate number 9 of BHEL, as well as in forests near WALMI hillocks at Kaliasot on Thursday.
The fire has been largely controlled. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) fire officer Sourabh Patel, while talking to TOI, said that the fire at all three places has been controlled, though smoke may still be coming out, particularly at the BHEL site where the fire erupted on Thursday.
The fire at the Adampur waste dumping site broke out on Tuesday and continued until Thursday. The fire in the tiger movement corridor at Kaliyasot forest near WALMI, according to environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan, has destroyed completely or partially forests in 50 to 60 acres of land. He said that the forest department was not in a situation to douse the fire or contain it, though the district forest officer (DFO) reached the site after the fire was reported. Khan said that only after the fire spread to staff quarters inside WALMI premises did the attempts to extinguish the fire intensify.
Once that happened, district collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh, local MLA Rameshwar Sharma, and other officials reached the spot, and more fire tenders arrived, and fire fighting began in earnest. However, ‘blade fencing' on the WALMI boundary wall acted as a major impediment in the fire fighting,said Khan, who was at the site until late.
BMC fire officer Sourabh Patel said that it was only after the fire came to affect human habitation that their role started, though they tried to help douse the fire at Kaliyasot. But it was for the forest department to contain the fire in the forests, as they do not have the wherewithal to control the jungle fire. Eyewitnesses said that the forest department, too, did not seem to have an idea on how to control the fire, nor did they have the required equipment or vehicles.