MARGAO
A scrapyard operating in a residential locality at Sucaldem-Chinchinim was engulfed in flames on Saturday but not before burning down a nearby servicing station and a vehicle.
An adjoining residential house also bore the brunt of the fire as the raging flames destroyed its window panes and rafters.
The Margao fire brigade requisitioned additional fire tenders from Curchorem and Verna fire stations to bring the inferno under control.
That the scrapyard was engulfed in flames came to light at around 3 pm when the labourers working at the site had gone out for lunch. The fire then spread to the servicing station and the adjoining house.
By the time the fire brigade turned up at the spot, the damage was already done to the scrapyard and the surrounding structures.
The house owner, Alda Fernandes, and other residents rushed out after they saw smoke billowing out from the scrapyard. She told the media that her was damaged in the fire. “The local residents have been objecting to the scrapyard in the residential locality as we had all along feared that a fire incident will affect us,” she said.
The scrapyard owner Benny D’Costa said he has no clue how the fire started in the scrapyard.
When it was pointed out that he was operating the scrapyard despite objections from the local residents, Benny said that he had approached the Goa Industrial Development Corporation with a plea to allot a plot in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate but in vain. “I had knocked the doors of the IDC for a plot, but my request was never considered,” he added.
Fire officer Gill De Souza told the media that a total of four fire tenders were requisitioned to bring the fire under control. He added that the fire had destroyed the scrapyard and it also affected a servicing station and nearby house.
Gill, however, sought to know how the scrapyard was allowed to be operated in a residential area.
Macberth Fernandes demanded to know why there’s no fire station at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, which could have served the entire area under the Cuncolim police station and the adjoining coastal belt.
