Kulanada ∙ Garbage dump near the fish market caught fire. Tons of garbage kept here for separation was burnt. The incident happened around 4 pm yesterday. A nearby building where segregated waste was collected also caught fire. Due to the efforts of the fire brigade and the locals, the danger situation was averted after about an hour. Initially, the smoke spread throughout the area increased the concern.
Garbage piled up next to the fish market caught fire first. A huge crack was formed in the iron roof of the market as the garbage piled up at a great height caught fire. The fire then spread to the building constructed earlier by Matsyfed for cold storage. The sorted garbage kept inside was completely burnt. The building has also suffered damage.
The fire force units from Adoor, Pathanamthitta and Chengannur arrived and extinguished the fire completely. Panchayat president Chithira C. Chandran said that they suspect that the fire was planned and will file a complaint with the police. The health department of the panchayat also says that the waste is sorted on time and delivered to the Clean Kerala unit in Alappuzha.
BJP district president V.A. Suraj said that the fire that broke out in the Kulanada panchayat area of the BJP-ruled Pandalam municipality in the last few days was suspected to be sabotage. CPM local committee secretary Sairam Pushpan alleged that the cause of the fire was mismanagement by the panchayat management committee in waste management.
