Kozhikode Corporation suspects conspiracy behind fire at West Hill material collection facility

The Kozhikode Corporation has filed a complaint with the Vellayil police and the District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) in connection with the fire at the Corporation’s material collection facility (MCF) at West Hill on Sunday morning. Deputy Mayor flays Opposition for using incident to criticize civic body.

The Kozhikode Corporation has filed a complaint with the Vellayil police and the District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) in connection with the fire at the Corporation’s material collection facility (MCF) at West Hill on Sunday morning.

Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafar Ahamed told reporters that the reason for the fire could neither be short circuit nor combustion. “The MCF did not have a power connection for the last two months. Hence, there is no scope for short circuit being the cause of the fire. The fire started among neatly stacked bags of rejected plastic. Hence, it cannot be combustion either,” he said.

The Corporation has demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the incident to find the actual cause of the fire and if conspiracy was involved. The Deputy Mayor flayed the Opposition for using the fire as an opportunity to criticise the civic body.

The fire started at the MCF around 10 a.m. More than 10 fire force units worked for over five hours to douse the flames and prevent what could have been a major disaster. The 122 Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Army rushed to the site and helped out, along with local people, to prevent the fire from spreading. That the MCF is located in a non-residential area made matters easier.

The MCF is managed by Konari Advanced Polymers based on a contract with the Corporation. The facility stores non-biodegradable waste collected by the Haritha Karma Sena, besides road sweep which is a mixture of biodegradable as well as non-biodegradable waste. While the HKS segregates the collected waste and sends it to dealers, the road sweep is often rejected and sent to cement factories where it is used as fuel. The compound also had quite a large quantity of legacy waste.