Frequent fires on railway land at G Corner irk firefighters

Trichy: A piece of railway land at G Corner on the Trichy-Chennai National Highway (NH) in Trichy recorded the 3rd minor fire incident in a week on Wednesday, leaving fire service department personnel to fret and fume over unsafe waste management practices of Southern Railway.Cantonment fire service personnel said a minor fire broke out near the G Corner railway ground, close to the Ponmalai railway station around 1pm on Wednesday. After being alerted, a team of personnel deputed by assistant district fire officer Leo Joseph rushed to the spot. After two hours of intense firefighting using 12,000 litres of water, the team contained the fire."This was the 3rd time we extinguished the fire at the same spot in a week. Paint, sheets, clothes, and foam abandoned from rail coaches and dumped in the open often go up in flames. Only the resalable waste is handled properly. Unhealthy smoke affects the visibility of commuters on the highway," a firefighter said.The department is compelled to depute a fire tender and at least 10,000 litres of water to put out the fire on each occasion. The distress calls received from other parts of the city at the same time were difficult to resolve, the official said. The fire department blamed the railway for ‘improper' waste disposal at the site. A railway official said, "Stakeholders have been instructed to keep the property clean and not to dump discards close to the NH. Waste management will be improved."