BHOPAL: There has been no respite in the smoke erupting from the fire that broke out at Adampur Landfill site in Bhopal. There is very little to bare minimum clear air available for the villages to breath.

Since Monday more than 30 fire tenders have been engaged to douse the fire. According to sources, Waste processing plant of Bhopal municipal corporation (BMC) worth Rs 50 lakh has been damaged in fire. Smoke billowing from landfill site affected four to five villages in its vicinity. Two water tankers have been used to douse pockets of fire that spurt.

According to BMC officials, mountains of garbage are being dug to control the fire at landfill site, so that the gas can be taken out. Machines are used to suppress tons of waste. Due to pressure, the waste becomes solid. Gas is produced due to decomposition and chemical process of waste. The staff engaged in the work of extinguishing the fire said it was difficult to guess from where the fire flared.

Officials claim that the landfill site may contain huge volume of extremely flammable methane and carbon dioxide gas. The MPPB officer Brijesh Sharma said, “Board team visited the site. Smoke has spread all over villages but how many villages have been affected will be known after testing air quality.” BMC superintending engineer RK Saxena said, “BMC plant is partially damaged.”