Fire breaks out at municipal dumpsite in Barnala

Bathinda: A major fire broke out at the municipal waste dumpsite managed by the Barnala municipal corporation near the Bathinda–Zirakpur national highway on Friday, with flames visible from a considerable distance. The incident occurred on the same day sanitation workers called off their 16-day strike.Located on the outskirts of the town, close to agricultural fields, the dump caught fire in the forenoon. Farmers in the vicinity spotted the blaze and alerted authorities, fearing it could spread to nearby fields. No damage to surrounding areas was reported.Around 25–28 metric tonnes of waste is generated daily in Barnala and dumped at the site. At the time of the incident, an estimated 7,000–8,000 MT of garbage had accumulated at the landfill.Barnala deputy commissioner Harpreet Singh, who also holds charge as municipal commissioner, said the fire was likely triggered by methane ignition amid intense heatwave conditions. "We received information around noon when temperatures were high, and fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot," he said, adding that nearly 25,000 MT of legacy waste had been cleared from the site last year.