Are the residents of Fatorda sitting on a ticking time bomb? The incident that occurred on Tuesday wherein two consecutive blasts triggering fire have posed to be a rather polite reminder to the Fatorda residents and local Government of how dangerous it is to have scrap yards operating in the middle of residential areas.
After being so long in the ruling dispensation with a ministry, will the MLA of Fatorda now move to put the problems in order and shift the yards of fear out into safer locations is what the locals are wondering.
Fatorda has been making its way through these scrap yards in Ambaji, Chandrawado, Gawliwado and other areas for decades now. Over the years the scraps have turned into hubs of complete, blatant illegalities. Nearly 7 to 8 major scrap yards and several small scrap yards have become a increasing nuisance for the people of Fatorda as far as maintenance of fire safety, safety of people in the vicinity, hygiene and problems to traffic movement is concerned.
The scrap yards that caught fire on Tuesday surprisingly had neither licences to operate, nor NOCs for operations or any sort of permission from competent authority. The yards generally are required to have operation NOCs from the MMC or Pollution Control Board. Polluting and involving in rather suspicious activities, the scrap yards fear nothing for years now.
Deeper investigations revealed that they have water and electricity connections which are known to be there and in use for several years. It may be recalled that in 2011 a tragic accident occurred in one of the yards in Fatorda wherein a tanker explosion at Chandrawaddo-Fatorda left one person dead and two seriously injured. The incident occurred at around 9.20 am when three persons were engaged in dismantling an empty tanker for scrap with a gas cutter when the tank exploded. The blast was so powerful that the deceased Bilhu Pawar (32), a native of Sangli, who was on the tanker, was flung onto the main road after the iron lid burst open due to gas formation inside the tank.
The ghost of 2011 still haunts the people of Fatorda. There have been several reminder incidents after that, most recent one being in February 2017 where fire broke out at Fatorda.
When asked Samir Naik, a local, said: “These scrap yards are indeed illegal, and are of no use to the people around or the local administration. In fact this is one big incident which has come to light but so many keep happening but go unnoticed,” said Samir.
Yet another resident said, “This scrap yard here at Gawliwado has been burning plastic all the time to dispose it. This has been releasing harmful fumes into the neighbourhood. These are some unknown people to the locality and people fear to complaint against them expecting backlash.” Several locals have already filed complaints regarding the dangers and incidents that have already occurred around here and have been demanding shifting out these yards. They also have complained that there has been an advent of migrant population in tens and thousands to this place here.
Scrap yards in the urban areas and government’s failure to re-locate them in the industrial zones as demanded by scrap dealers is a phenomenon in all major towns. Agitated local residents staying in the vicinity of the scrap yard have been demanding to put an end to the activities since 1999 now.
