the goan I network
MARGAO
In an incident that has raised many an eyebrow, unsegregated waste dumped at the Aquem ring-road black spot was set on fire on Tuesday noon. The incident comes against the backdrop of the HC barring the Margao Municipal Council from carrying out open dumping of waste at the Sonsodo waste dump and the civic body literally struggling to segregate the waste from the black spots and transport the same to the WTP.
Thick black smoke billowed from the black spot along the ring road, which has for a long time now been the perfect waste dumping ground for unscrupulous citizens from the city and outside.
Though the Margao fire brigade is stationed less than a kilometer away from the burning garbage site, firemen claimed they received no call saying the waste dumped along the ring road had been set on fire.
MMC officials also feigned ignorance about the waste being set afire along the ring road on the periphery of the city. An official pointed out that the Aquem ring road black spot is a major black spot in the city with waste finding its way to the spot from across the city border.
“The Civic body had cleared the waste from the black spot two days ago. And, since we were planning to deploy a JCB to clear the mounting waste, someone has set it afire,” the official informed.
To tide over the constant flow of mixed waste at the ring road black spot, officials manning the MMC solid waste management program had suggested intensive patrolling of the ring road by the police and imposing of hefty fines on the violators to act as a deterrence.
Open dumping of waste on the existing Sonsodo dump yard had come to a halt from Saturday after the MMC gave an undertaking to the High Court that no further waste will be dumped on the existing waste dump at Sonsodo.
Ever since the May 25 fire incident and the refusal by Fomento to accept mixed waste, municipal trucks had been dumping unsegregated and mixed waste, especially waste from the black spots on the existing dump yard. Open waste dumping at Sonsodo had come to a halt on December 12, 2012 when the WTP had gone into operation as the waste collected from the city was all transported inside the plant.
Since Saturday, MMC had been literally struggling with the mixed waste dumped at the 70-odd black spots
across the city, which receives waste mostly from neighbouring villages.
