Pune: Garbage accumulated on canal near Pulgate catches fire

Rohit Ranpise, an officer of the Pune Cantonment Board’s fire brigade, said: “We received a call around 10.20am regarding the fire. Within a few minutes, our teams reached the spot. It was a huge fire. Two fire tenders and two water tankers were pressed into service. It took about half an hour to bring the situation under control. Later, a cooling operation was carried out. No person was injured and no property loss was reported in the incident.”

The fire officer added: “The garbage that caught fire mainly consisted of thermocol waste and coconut shells. The cause of the fire is not known yet.”

Notably, a lot of smoke generated from the fire. The dense smoke could be seen from a distance of several kilometres. A large crowd of onlookers had gathered at the site located close to a bus stand. There were also rumours that a nearby residential quarter caught the fire. But fire officials made it clear that no property was damaged in the incident.

The locals complained that non-biodegradable garbage, especially plastic and thermocol products, are often discarded into the canal, and the situation worsens in the aftermath of festivals, such as Ganeshotsava.