Firemen struggle to douse fire as civic body ignores plea for mud and debris
MARGAO
Margao Municipal waste dump near the KTC bus stand was engulfed by fire since Saturday noon, with firefighting operations going unabated till late night.
While the Margao Municipal City Fathers, babus and officials were all soaked in the Shigmotsav celebrations in the commercial capital on Saturday, repeated pleas made by the firefighting team for mud and debris to cap the fire went unheeded for want of action by the civic body.
Resultantly, the Margao fire brigade team was continuously engaged in the firefighting operation since Saturday afternoon till late night. While the MMC made available a JCB to churn the dry waste and ensure the water sprayed by the firemen reaches the ground, the fire could not be capped as the mud and debris was not forthcoming from the civic body or the district disaster management cell.
Till 9 pm, the fire brigade was believed to have used around 45,000 litres of water in the firefighting operations. Besides the normal fire tender, the fire brigade deployed the 12,000 litre capacity bowser to bring the fire under control, but in vain.
The fire was first spotted by a resident of Fatorda, Crydon Madeira after he saw smoke billowing from the dump near the KTC bus stand. He immediately alerted the fire brigade as the fire had spread towards a tree. “I immediately informed the fire brigade to rush to the KTC bus stand since the fire was spreading to the area. There were buses parked at the bus stand and outside and any delay would have resulted in a disaster,” he said.
Crydon has suspected that miscreants have played mischief by setting fire, may be to reduce the volume of dry waste dumped at the site.
When The Goan called up Fire Officer Gill D’Sa to shed light on the fire, he said the fire brigade has immediately rushed a tender at around 2.20 pm. He, however, said the fire could not be brought under control since it required mud or debris, which was not forthcoming from the authorities. “I had sent a message to a Municipal official to send trucks loaded with mud, but in vain. The fire brigade had also sent a message to the Deputy Collector, Uday Prabhudesai,” he said, adding that the fire could not be immediately brought under control for want of mud and debris to cap the dump.
