Bhopal landfill fires to cost contractors ₹10 lakh daily:Civic body imposes penalty over failure to extinguish blaze within 2 hours; 55 incidents in past 8 years

The Adampur landfill in Bhopal has become a major problem for the Municipal Corporation. The huge pile of waste keeps growing, and recurring fires have threatened residents’ health and the environment. To tackle this, the Corporation has introduced strict rules in the new waste disposal tender, including fines and timelines to prevent fires. Fires must be controlled quickly Under the new tender, any fire at Adampur must be extinguished within two hours. If the fire continues, the contractor will be fined Rs 10 lakh on the first day. After that, Rs 10 lakh will be added daily until the fire is fully put out. Separate tenders for old and new waste Earlier, the Corporation issued a joint tender in October for all waste at Adampur, but no company applied. Now, there are separate tenders for: The first tender, worth Rs 33 crore, is to clear the legacy waste. Fires smoulder for days Fires at Adampur have been a recurring issue for years. Toxic smoke causes eye infections and other health problems for nearby residents. The environment of Bhopal is deteriorating because of these fires. Allegations of deliberate fires There are claims that waste at Adampur does not catch fire naturally. Some allege that fires are set deliberately because the Corporation has been unable to manage the waste effectively. This is why the new tender includes strict fire prevention rules. New tender rules The new tender states: Challenges of legacy waste The 6 lakh tons of old waste at Adampur has accumulated over decades. About 830 tons of waste reach the landfill daily: The previous contractor ignored wet waste and recycled only 150 tons of dry waste. The contract was terminated as waste kept piling up. Preventing fires is the priority Commissioner Sanskrati Jain said: “No one applied in the first tender. That’s why separate tenders are being issued. The new conditions make the contractor responsible for preventing fires. If a fire is not controlled in time, a Rs 10 lakh fine will be imposed every day until it is extinguished.”