MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes has made a fervent plea to Madgavkars and Fatordekars to celebrate pollution-free Diwali by not burning firecrackers during the festivities.
He has also requested the city shopkeepers and traders to say no to single-use of plastic and use only cloth bags, containers, etc, and appealed to people to make this Diwali free of plastic menace as well.
The Chief Officer has also sent out a message to the citizens to hand over segregated waste to the collectors, saying mixed waste was defeating the very purpose of the door-to-door waste collection exercise.
In a message to the citizens of Margao and Fatorda ahead of the Diwali festivities, the Chief Officer said citizens can make a little difference by not burning firecrackers during this year’s Diwali and other festivals.
Saying there’s no ban as of now on burning of firecrackers though the NGT had last week issued notices to 23 states and Union territories regarding the imposition of a ban on firecrackers in a bid to protect the health of the vulnerable group, the Chief Officer, however, made an earnest plea to the public not to use fireworks during the ensuing Diwali.
Sending a message to the citizens to say “no to single-use of plastic” and use cloth bags, containers etc, the Chief Officer has requested the shopkeepers to refrain from using plastic bags below 50 microns.
“These plastic bags litter the streets, block the drains and when burnt release toxic chemicals and contaminate the air,” he added.
On waste segregation, the Chief Officer said his staff has brought to his notice that many citizens are still giving them mixed garbage and when requested argue with them thereby defeating the very purpose of door-to-door collection.
“Unsegregated garbage cannot be accepted. Every single citizen can make a difference by giving segregated waste to my staff who are collecting it door to door.”
