Massive fire at Colvale industrial estate, firefighters battle blaze

Panaji: Acrid smoke and the stench of soot hung over Colvale on Monday as a massive fire sprang up at the Colvale industrial estate. The fire broke out in a vacant plot where combustible industrial waste, raw material, and scrap were indiscriminately dumped amidst dry grass.

With the blaze refusing to die, additional fire trucks were rushed in from Porvorim and Panaji to assist firefighters from the Mapusa fire station, who were the first to respond to the fire. The fire was dangerously close to the 400 KV sub station of the Power Grid Corporation of India.

“Around 1pm, we got a call saying that there was a fire near the Binani factory. When we arrived, we started firefighting operations immediately, but when we were dousing the fire, some bystanders told us that the fire started close to the power line pylons. Raw material, plastic, and waste material were dumped there, which caught fire,” said the station in-charge at the Mapusa fire station, Ganesh Govekar.

Firefighters quickly realised that the blaze showed no indication of subsiding. Also, the wind made the firefighting operations difficult. This is when Govekar requested assistance from the Porvorim and Panaji fire stations.

To make things worse, the fire was on rocky terrain, and access was via an unpaved road surrounded by dense bushes and dry grass. Colvale police inspector Vijay Rane and a team of police personnel helped the fire crews from Mapusa and Porvorim. Water tankers were brought in to replenish the water emptied from the fire trucks.

“The industrial waste that got ignited, we managed to douse and bring it under control, but the dry grass took some time as minor fires were breaking out. Nobody is taking ownership of the waste and the raw material. There are industries on one side and homes on the other side. We stopped the fire from spreading to the surrounding areas,” said Govekar.

Despite their combined efforts, the fire continued to burn till late evening. This prompted the authorities to requisition a heavy earth mover to disturb the waste and raw material where smaller fires continued to linger. “We have to lift the waste because there are small fires underneath that can continue to burn for days,” said a fireman at the Mapusa fire station.


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