Landfill fire in Kochi’s Brahmapuram of Kerala

Why in news?

Recent incident of landfills fire in Kochi’s Brahmapuram of Kerala.

A landfill also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials.

Types of landfills

Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (MSWLFs) – Specifically designed to receive household waste, as well as other types of nonhazardous wastes.
Bioreactor Landfills – A type of MSWLF that operates to rapidly transform and degrade organic waste.
Industrial Waste Landfill – Designed to collect commercial and institutional waste (i.e. industrial waste), which is often a significant portion of solid waste, even in small cities and suburbs.
Construction and Demolition (C&D) Debris Landfill –C&D materials often contain bulky, heavy materials, such as concrete, wood, metals, glass and salvaged building components.
Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) landfills – An industrial waste landfill used to manage and dispose of coal combustion residuals (CCRs or coal ash).
Hazardous Waste Landfills - Facilities used specifically for the disposal of hazardous waste.

Waste containing flammable materials - Openly disposed waste includes flammable material like low-quality plastics, which have a relatively higher calorific value of about 2,500-3,000 kcal/kg
Summer being dry and hot –The biodegradable fraction composts much faster, increasing the temperature of the heap to beyond 70-80° C.
Low efficiency in waste processing - India’s municipalities have been collecting more than 95% of the waste generated in cities but the efficiency of waste-processing is only 30-40%
Poor segregation of waste at source - Municipalities are expected to process the wet and dry waste separately and to have the recovered by-products recycled
Huge unprocessed waste -Remains in open landfills for long periods.

Greenhouse gases- The landfill fires emits greenhouse gases affecting the environment
Schools Education System -Affects schools education system since landfill fire leads to closure of schools in nearby areas
Carcinogens -The waste may contain carcinogens materials which increases the chances of being affected by cancer causing dieses

Precautionary Measures

Short Term Measure

Long Term / Permanent Solutions

The landfill site should be equipped with water tankers with sprinklers for immediate action.
The municipality should work with the nearest fire department and have a plan of action in advance.
Waste-processing workers (plant operators, segregators, etc.) should have basic fire-safety and response training
The municipality should have routine round-the-clock video surveillance of the most flammable portion of the landfill

The first immediate action is to divide a site into blocks depending on the nature of the waste
Blocks that have been capped using soil are less likely to catch fire, so portions like these should also be separated out
To advice people to stay in indoors
Distribution of N95 masks to the people

Bio mining is the technique of extracting metals from ores and other solid materials typically using prokaryotes, fungi or plants.

Solid Waste Management Act 2002 - An Act to establish a National Solid Waste Management Corporation
Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016 – The rules have mandated the source segregation of waste.
Pollution Control Boards - The Pollution Control Boards are directed to take action for persuading the civic authorities in proper management of municipal solid wastes.

References