Kochi, Mar 7 (PTI) The fire, which broke out last week at the Brahmapuram waste plant, continued to smoulder and generate toxic smoke even as fire-fighting operations proceeded in earnest at the site on Tuesday also.

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The Ernakulam district administration said fire-fighting operations were progressing effectively with around 30 fire tenders, 12 earth-moving equipment as well as Fire rescue personnel from other districts being deployed there.

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Besides that, Navy and Air Force personnel were present on the ground and their helicopters were also pressed into operation to douse the flames by spraying water from above, a district administration release said.

Further, a medical camp has been set up near the plant to take care of the health of those engaged in fire-fighting operations, it said.

An air quality monitoring vehicle was also deployed in the area, it added.

A Defence statement said that one IAF Mi-17V5 from Air Force Station Sulur carried out Bambi bucket operations to douse the smoke at Brahmapuram waste plant.

The chopper flew a total of 6 shuttles from a nearby reservoir to the affected area and dropped 10,800 litres of water, it said.

Police said the fire was quelled by around 99 per cent, but thick smoke was still emanating from the site.

"It will take at least a week for the situation to normalise," a police officer said.

It also said that a case for fire occurrence has already been lodged and the investigation will commence soon.

Even the Kerala High Court took up the issue on its own and called from the local authorities and the state government the medium and long-term measures they propose to implement to prevent such incidents from recurring and for proper waste disposal.

The fire had broken out at the waste plant on March 2 and thereafter, the air quality in the port city of Kochi and neighbouring municipalities and gram panchayats had worsened as they were engulfed in the dense smoke billowing from the garbage dump.

However, according to the government, no health issues or emergencies were reported as a result of the smoke.

According to local body officials, such incidents of fire happen every year around this time due to the extreme heat.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)