AURANGABAD: A major fire broke out at the Padegaon dumpsite on Thursday night that continued till Friday evening. Fire tenders were pressed into service at the site, but the flames are yet to be controlled. Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) chief fire officer RK Sure informed that the fire brigade received information about the incident on Thursday night after which three fire tenders were sent to the site.“After hours of struggle, the fire could not be controlled. One of our tenders was at the site until Friday evening. Around 5,000 tonne of waste has caught fire and it is quite difficult to control. But we are trying our best,” Sure said.Meanwhile, the entire area consisting of 7-8 election wards was engulfed in smoke with locals reporting difficulty in breathing. Kishore Satpute, a local resident and farmer, said in a few hours the locality was covered in smoke and highly pungent smell.According to local resident Bhausaheb Shelar, he along with his cousin, Suresh Lokhande, observed smoke emanating from the waste at 8.30am on Friday when they went to Lokhande’s farm to milk the cows.Incidentally, the AMC has been incessantly dumping waste at Padegaon for the last four to five months. Currently, waste from around 30 wards of zone 1 and zone 9 is being sent to the site. Sanitation inspector Bandu Sable said that the staff is engaged to douse the flames.Meanwhile, local corporator Chetan Kamble citing the notice issued by Maharashtra’s social justice minister Rajkumar Badole , dated October 10, reiterated that the dumping at Padegaon should be stopped.“I have raised the matter in the general body meeting and informed the commissioner and mayor about the notice but they have rubbished the directives issued by the minister,” Kamble said.

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