Kozhikode: A massive fire broke out at the Kozhikode Corporation's waste treatment plant in West Hill here on Sunday morning.

Manorama News reported that the fire has been under control. Sources said six fire tenders were deployed to douse the fire.

Non-degradable waste items like plastic collected by the corporation staff from public places are stored here. Konari Waste Management Service, a private firm, is in charge of the operation of the plant.

Kozhikode Corporation health standing committee chairperson Dr S Jayasree told Onmanorama that the operation of the waste treatment plant was interrupted due to a technical issue in the machine used for recycling the waste.

“At present, the waste treatment plant is functioning as a material recovery facility. The waste collected by Haritha Karma Sena and other corporation staff is taken to this centre and segregated for sale. A portion of the collected waste rejected by the scrap dealers is kept here. Every day Haritha Karma Sena members have been collecting 100 tonnes of non-degradable waste from houses. Along with this, waste collected from public places is also taken to this plant. It is assumed that a short circuit led to the fire accident," said Jayasree.

Black thick smoke was seen billowing from the plant as a huge quantity of plastic waste caught fire.

Meanwhile, residents here blocked the corporation's bid to move the waste to Santhi Nagar area. One of the natives told Manorama News that it was the sixth fire accident in the plant. He rubbished the rumours of setting the plant ablaze and claimed that he noticed the fire at first. 

At the same time, MLA Thottathil Raveendran demanded an inquiry to identify the cause of the accident.