Seene me jalan, aankho me toofan sa kyun hai… The beautiful lyrics of this song from the movie Gaman were composed by Shaharyar. Now one would think, since when has Samvada started publishing news items from Bollywood? Well, the Ghazal was written in a different connotation but the lyrics so aptly describe the condition felt by many residents of Noida.
“There was smoke, smoke and smoke all around us even inside our houses. Sorry to say but it is Noida Authority’s failure to keep the city pollution free”, says a resident of Sector 31. A massive garbage fire at the huge vacant land mass in Sector 32 continued to burn for forty-eight hours causing severe discomfort to the residents living nearby. Combustion of trash/garbage emits hazardous gases like carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and dioxin which are toxic and injurious. Also, combustion results in particulate matter that can cause serious respiratory problems amounting to cough, breathlessness and allergic reactions. Two days of this torture went on despite the efforts taken for damage control. Apart from the lung choking smoke the residents also had to deal with the putrid smell of burning garbage.
The cause of fire breakout is not known but fire breakouts are not uncommon in Noida. The scorching heat of summer months brings along a lot of problems like numerous and frequent power outages, scarcity of water and other such things. In addition to these, a graver threat is posed by fire breakouts due to short circuits or heated electric appliances or if some careless smoker carelessly disposes of a matchstick or cigarette butt in a heap of dry garbage. There have been so many cases of fire breakouts in the neighbourhood that it has become very necessary for us to take precautions.
What is the cause of all these fires in the summer months? It’s called the fire triangle. The three basic ingredients for a fire are – oxygen, fuel and heat, which together form what experts call a fire triangle. The first two ingredients are always available around the year. But the third factor – heat – is the reason why outbreaks of fire are more common in summer than in winter and register a sharp rise during heat waves than during a normal summer.
The above incident also raises another important question about garbage disposal. This is not the first time that garbage has been a source of untoward incidents. There was an incident a few years ago when the huge mountain of garbage at the Ghazipur landfill caved in and thousands of tons of garbage came sliding down into the slums below leaving some poor souls dead. Fires at landfills like Bhalswa have also been reported earlier. Also to be pondered upon is why the land at sector 32 which lies bang in the centre of our city, was being used as a landfill. Has the Noida Authority left with no other option but to convert what once was supposed to be a beautiful commercial district into a landfill – food for thought!
