The weekend fire at the Sonsodo dry waste shed left a trail of destruction, with two bailing machines and property gutted. There were toxic fumes being released with clouds of black smoke filling the air, even as firemen took time to douse the flames. Two days later, mystery shrouds the reason behind the fire as officials rule out accidental or natural causes. The Sonsodo fire is not a new happening, the dump site has been a witness to several fire incidents in the past 2-3 years. The worry is that lessons have not been learnt despite the many incidents of the past, and authorities haven't shown the seriousness that was required after the High Court's repeated interventions.
The fundamental question is, why was there a dry waste mound inside the shed when garbage is being transported to the Cacora plant every day? Let us not forget the fact that there is a whopping 15 tons of dry waste, mostly plastic waste, generated in Margao on an average, daily. We understand trucks have been deployed to transport the waste to the Cacora unit. So where is the problem? Officials blame it on the trucks under maintenance saying transportation has been erratic. Besides, there appears to be a shortage of strips to bale leading to the pilling up of dry waste.
It baffles the mind that the basic requirements of keeping the wheels of the system moving have been ignored, that too after being fully aware of the consequences. Waste not being transported due to maintenance of vehicles or shortage of baling strips are unacceptable excuses that reflect callousness. Mounds of dry waste are like ticking timebombs waiting to explode, and to what is seen so far, such pile-ups should have been avoided in the first place under any circumstances. While a probe could point at what led to the fire, there are questions on which the Margao Municipal Council will have to introspect hard.
Secondly, a good nine hours were wasted as firefighters shuttled between Sonsodo and the water source. This has raised questions about the area's pre-installed fight-fighting mechanism, which was set up with the High Court's intervention. Was there no water supply to the system, or was there no trained manpower to handle operations? Does the MMC need an inferno to wake it up from its slumber? Should these checks and balances not have been in place to handle eventualities?
On Monday, a fire broke out at an SAG-owned ground at Fatorda. The massive waste dump that has been accumulated was on fire creating a scare in the vicinity. The dump has not been formed overnight but has been piling up for months. Why did authorities not feel the need to act, despite the nuisance that was building up right before their eyes? The Goa State Pollution Control Board should have been stepping up issuing notices to those concerned about such pollution. The Sonsodo flare-up was toxic, and so was the case with the Fatorda blaze.
There has to be zero tolerance for waste dumps because these are piling on the misery of the common citizens. Authorities must be held accountable and taken to task, otherwise, Goa will continue to be littered with garbage mounds at every available open space. It's time to crack the whip.
