Kannur: A pile of garbage caught fire at the Chelora waste plant on Sunday morning. Though the fire and rescue department put out the blaze soon after, thick smoke has engulfed the area. The new plant was inaugurated just a few months ago.

Plastic and organic wastes are generally dumped separately, people in the locality said. According to the residents. the bio-degradable waste pile caught fire. Though firemen prevented the plastic pile from catching fire, it hasn't been removed from the yard yet.

The yard which is about 10 km from the city is spread across 20 acres; the waste is managed by the Kannur corporation.

In March, the smoke from a massive fire at the Brahmapuram waste plant in Kochi suffocated the city for days.