Huge volumes of dry waste were set ablaze along the banks of the canal that runs parallel to the Salt Lake Bypass, opposite Nicco Park, on Monday morning, filling a considerable stretch of the banks with smoke.
It was hard to miss the smoke rising from the burning waste along a bank of the Eastern Drainage Channel, the official name of the canal on that stretch, while entering Salt Lake from the Chingrighata crossing.
Open burning of solid waste is prohibited across the country under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, framed by the Centre.
The rules say the local authorities should “direct street sweepers not to burn tree leaves collected from street sweeping and store them separately and handover to the waste collectors or agency authorised by the local body”.
The local authorities, the rules say, should “collect horticulture, parks and garden waste separately and process in the parks and gardens, as far as possible”.
Krishna Chakraborty, mayor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, told The Telegraph she was unaware that waste was being burned along the canal.
“I do not know who burned the dry waste along the canal. I will enquire and ask them not to repeat this,” she said.
The men who set dry leaves, creepers and weeds on fire along the canal around 11am had been engaged in cleaning the banks, sources said.
This newspaper spotted at least four places where dry horticulture waste was accumulated and put on fire on Tuesday. The four burning spots are along a 100m-stretch of the canal’s southern bank.
Remnants of burnt waste were visible at several spots, suggesting that Tuesday’s burning was not the first along the canal.
Sources in the state urban development department said the Salt Lake Rehabilitation and Development Circle (SLRDC), which functions under the department, has taken up a project to build concrete slopes along the banks of the canal.
The project includes removal of water hyacinths from the canal to ensure it does not get choked.
“The waste was set ablaze by mistake. We have issued instructions to the men not to do this again. We have agreements with the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. The corporation will pick up the waste for disposal,” said an official of the SLRDC.
Burning of waste releases toxic materials and the smoke causes coughing and respiratory distress in people with compromised lungs. Even healthy people can feel uncomfortable if they are exposed to the toxic materials and the smoke for long, doctors said.