Mohali: Mohali’s mounting garbage crisis worsened Sunday after the Shahi Majra dumping site caught fire for the fourth time in a week, shrouding nearby residential areas in thick smoke and raising fresh concerns over public health, waste management and civic accountability.The latest blaze erupted despite recent rainfall, with smoke spreading towards Phases 4 and 5 and affecting residents, particularly the elderly and those suffering from respiratory ailments. Fire brigade personnel battled the flames for hours, but firefighting operations were reportedly hampered after a fire tender ran out of water and later developed a technical fault.The repeated fires have put the spotlight on the city’s inability to deal with accumulated waste at a dumping site located in the heart of Mohali. Residents have questioned why heaps of garbage continue to remain at the site despite recurring fires and the health risks they pose.MC commissioner Sundeep Singh Garha said the civic body was trying to ascertain who had set the garbage on fire and that legal action would be taken against those responsible. He also said the contractor’s waste-processing machine had malfunctioned, affecting garbage disposal operations, and efforts were under way to get it repaired at the earliest.The incident triggered a political blame game, with AAP mayor Sarabjit Singh Samana, former Congress mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu and BJP leader Sanjiv Vashisht trading charges over responsibility for the city’s sanitation woes.Samana said the present civic body was addressing a legacy problem inherited from the previous Congress-led municipal corporation. Sidhu, however, blamed the AAP-led civic body for failing to tackle the crisis despite being in power. Vashisht held both the previous Congress leadership and the present administration responsible for the situation.For residents living around the dump, however, the concern goes beyond politics. With four fires reported in seven days, smoke repeatedly blanketing neighbourhoods and heaps of unprocessed waste continuing to pile up, the city’s garbage problem has increasingly turned into a pressing public health issue.A crisis that won’t go away4 fires in 7 daysThe Shahi Majra dump has caught fire repeatedly over the past week despite firefighting efforts.Smoke over homesResidents of nearby sectors have complained of choking smoke and poor air quality.Waste pile remainsAccumulated garbage continues to lie at the site, fuelling fears of fresh flare-ups.Questions for civic bodyRecurring fires have renewed scrutiny of Mohali’s waste-management system and garbage-processing capacity.