the goan I network
MARGAO
Garbage burning, be it by municipal workers or unscrupulous persons, in the Commercial capital has almost become a norm than an exception, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order banning waste burning notwithstanding.
While the NGT has mooted a fine amounting to Rs 25,000, it's still unknown how many violators have been slapped with the fine by the district Collector, South or by the local municipal body as a deterrent against waste burning.
Thursday evening saw waste, including plastic, set afire along the railway tracks at Pedda-Khareband by unknown persons. The movement of the trains along the tracks only added fuel to the fire as thick black smoke billowing out from the site, enveloping the entire locality with bad odour.
When The Goan called up Margao Municipal Council sanitation inspector Viraj Arabekar to shed light on waste burning in the city, he was candid in admitting that even some unscrupulous municipal workers are engaged in disposing of the waste by fire along the roads.
Inquiries by The Goan has revealed that no sensitisation programme has been conducted for the municipal workers and sweepers over the NGT ban on waste burning. That's not all. The Municipal sanitary inspector conceded that the municipality has not imposed any fine against the violators involved in burning waste.
Sources in the know pointed out that it's not uncommon to find waste burning along the eastern bypass adjoining the city's jurisdiction in recent times, but no authority has intervened till date to bring the culprits to book.
When The Goan called up Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Member Secretary Levinson Martins to throw light on the implementation of the NGT ban on waste burning, he said that the ban is in force in the State, with the NGT empowering the State government to impose a fine amounting to Rs 25,000 on the violators.
A GSPCB official informed that the Board has lodged complaints with the district Collectors whenever they have come across waste burning, but had no knowledge or statistics indicating the number of persons fined by the designated authority.
The ground reality, however, remains different. Waste burning has not stopped in the towns and villages for want of sensitising of the local bodies, including the municipal and panchayat bodies, by the district administration and the GSPCB.
Take the case of Margao municipal area. That the waste is being burnt along side the gutters and drains across the city is a common phenomenon.
The situation is no different around the government buildings maintained by the PWD, as workers prefer to set the waste on fire instead of disposing of the same in the municipal bins.
