Photo caption.
Fire men and Fomento Green workers engaged in bringing the fire under control at the Sonsodo waste dumping site. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Fire broke out at the Sonsodo waste dumping site on Monday, once again bringing to the fore that all’s not well as the dump yard till date.
The fire is believed to have originated from dry grass, before spreading to the open waste dump.
Upon receiving information, two fire tenders rushed to the site and fought the fire for nearly an hour. Workers engaged by Fomento Green also joined the fire fighting operation with their equipments to bring the fire under control.
The incident occurred around noon when flames and smoke was seen billowing from the dumping site and the dry grass. Fire personnel informed The Goan that they used two tenders to extinguish the fire.
While the fire men finally brought the fire under control, the incident has brought to the fore the oft repeated question how much more time will the Margao Municipality and the stakeholders require to put things in order at the waste dump.
Though the Margao municipality had stopped open dumping of waste at the Sonsodo yard since the last three years, waste rejects continue to find its way to the existing site for want of a landfill site.
Plans by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to segregate the mixed waste dumping at the site has also failed to take off till date, though GSUDA Member Secretary Elvis Gomes had promised in December that work on the waste segregation work will start at the site from February.
