Fire Spreads Across Two Acres at Kodungaiyur Dump Yard in Chennai

A major fire broke out at the Kodungaiyur dump yard in Chennai on Sunday afternoon, spreading across approximately two acres and blanketing large surrounding areas in thick white smoke.

Firefighters and Greater Chennai Corporation personnel worked for more than three hours to bring the blaze under control. Emergency teams deployed seven excavators to lift compacted layers of garbage so that water could be poured directly onto the smouldering waste. Fire engines faced difficulty entering the premises due to a lack of manoeuvring space at the site. By 5:20 pm, an official confirmed that around 95 per cent of the fire had been doused.

Residents and local welfare bodies expressed strong concern over recurring fire incidents at the facility. T K Shanmugam, president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents’ Welfare Association, described the blaze as one of the major fires in recent times and called on the civic body to address the ongoing problem.

Shanmugam urged authorities to expedite the clearance of legacy waste at the yard through bio-mining processes. He noted that permanent monitoring systems, proper fire safety measures, and smoke pollution prevention mechanisms must be established to safeguard the health and lives of the people living in Kodungaiyur.

A senior Solid Waste Management official stated that the fire was triggered by methane generated from decomposing biodegradable waste. The official noted that no fires had been reported at the site since July, though at least two fires were recorded within a single week in June.

The official also alleged that ragpickers might have lit fires to extract metals from the waste piles. However, a resident from nearby Vyasarpadi disputed that claim, stating that ragpickers depend on the dump yard for their daily livelihood and would not deliberately risk burning it.