BHOPAL: Smoke billowed from the burning garbage at the Bhanpur dumping grounds in the state capital, affecting colonies some as far as three kilometres away, on Tuesday. Fire in the garbage dumping ground was reportedly doused a day earlier. The intense smoke affected road and railway traffic all through the morning.Over 25 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to contain the fire, according to Bhopal Municipal Corporation BMC ). The 40-year-old dumping ground was declared closed last week, after a directive from the National Green Tribunal NGT ). The dumping yard has been handed over to a private company to carry out waste disposal in a scientific manner.BMC fire service in-charge Sajid Khan said, "The incident was reported at around 3 am. The exact cause of the fire cannot be ascertained yet. It took about 12 hours for the fire service to douse the raging flames." Toxic plastic and oil residue that caught fire significantly affects the air quality.Sources said that lack of security arrangements could be a possible reason for the fire. The dumping ground is reportedly unmanned at night, when the fire broke out but it is still unclear how exactly the fire started. "Small fires along the dump yard are normal. Smoke that emanated from the fire was confused with winter smog by many residents. It was the distinct stench that later proved to be a fire," said Manish Singh, a resident of JK Road."We witnessed dense smoke along the Raisen Road. Some of the residents even feared the worst, suspecting it to be an industrial fire. Some of the children in the neighbourhood, who are asthmatic did not go to school in my colony," said Anita Das , a resident of BHEL.The wind direction mostly affected the colonies towards the west of the dumping yard. The 36-hectare landfill, has catered as a dumping ground for the state capital for over four decades. Around 850 tonnes of waste is collected in Bhopal each day. The total volume of the waste piled up in the four decade-old dumping yard is close to 5 million tonnes, with hills of trash as tall as a five-floor building.

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