It’s been only a little over a month since the Bellandur lake caught froth and fire, now a similar incident has resurfaced. On July 20, a quarry pit in Lakshmipura village, near Bannerghatta National Park, began to exude smoke with high intensity.
The BBMP after visiting the site, confirmed the smoke to be methane gas and asked people to stay away from the spot. They have also helped evacuate the slums nearby. A few villagers, taking advantage of the situation, started cooking with the gas that was being released. Now they have all been taken away from the area.
Image courtesy: bangalore.citizenmatters.in/
This time too the cause is man-made, that of dumping garbage at the once present landfill. After indiscriminately dumping all kinds of garbage there, the BBMP closed the area with soil.
Due to lack of proper disposal, the organic waste underneath started releasing toxic methane gas. This gas, later, started escaping through the gaps created by rain water and the resulting combustion is causing the fire.
Methane gas affects ground water, making it unsafe to be used. For now, officials have cordoned the area off, and are waiting for a long term solution for dumping of garbage in the outskirts of the city.
Image courtesy: www.ejatlas.org
And the sudden increase in population and thereby garbage in the city is touted to be the reason behind current landfills not sufficing. Well, this issue is sure turning out to be smoky! The sooner it’s taken care of, the clearer it will get.
