The Bhandewadi dumping yard fire has turned life into a nightmare for thousands in Tulsi Nagar and Abbumiyan Nagar. The blaze, burning for over 24 hours, shows no signs of stopping — and officials fear it could continue for eight more days. Thick, poisonous smoke now cloaks the sky, choking families already living in makeshift homes surrounded by waste and disease.
Handling over 1,450 metric tonnes of garbage daily, the dump has become a toxic volcano, spewing deadly gases like dioxins, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, and more. Children are coughing. The elderly are fainting. And mothers like Asha Kurve are panicking. “It’s like poison in the air. My kids can’t breathe. We’re trapped.”
Firefighters, caught off guard by the intensity of the fumes, were initially forced to retreat — their gear no match for the chemical cloud. It wasn’t until advanced respirators arrived that they could reenter the blaze. “It felt like inhaling death,” one firefighter said, barely catching his breath.
The fire began small, likely not due to heat, but a sudden dust storm turned it deadly, fanning the flames into the heart of the waste pile. BVG and AG Enviro’s 400 trucks now reroute garbage elsewhere as NMC attempts to suffocate the fire by burying it.
Meanwhile, locals are handing out over 2,000 masks, 250 ORS packets, and warm meals to frontline heroes. But fear lingers.
With each gust of wind, homes tremble. And as smoke creeps into every breath, Nagpur holds on — praying this fire doesn’t turn fatal.
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