On Friday, for the second day in a row, residents across Mumbai woke up to unusually thick smog in the air. The source of the smoke that seems to have engulfed most of the city is a massive fire that broke out at the Deonar garbage dumping ground in north-east Mumbai early on Thursday morning.
As of Friday morning, fire-fighters had still not been able to entirely contain the flames that have been choking the air with toxic gases. Citizens, meanwhile, took to social media with the hashtag #MumbaiSmokeCloud, posting scores of photographs of the unprecedented smog cover across the city.
Just how severely dense was the smog cover over the city? Twitter had enough before-after pictures to serve as show-and-tell:
While the smoke and pollution were the worst in Chembur, Wadala and other suburbs close to the Deonar dumping ground, residents of south Mumbai were baffled to see that they were affected too:
Those closer to Deonar, however, want the civic authorities and the state government to find a lasting solution to the problem of repeated fires at Mumbai’s dumping grounds:
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!