MARGAO
Even as the world will be celebrating Environment Day on Sunday, tonnes of plastic waste lay dumped along the Comba ring road in the commercial capital, and which now threatens to flow into the river Sal in the ensuing monsoons.
A walk down the ring road showed that tonnes of waste was found lying alongside the ring road, indicating that the Margao Municipality has completely ignored the plastic waste dump.
That the waste threatens to flow into the river Sal and may result in an environmental disaster has not spurred the civic officials nor the elected councillors.
While newly-appointed Chief Officer Rohit Kadam had promised to get its sanitation section and mobilise its workers to clear the plastic waste dump, the ground reality has not changed for the better.
Incidentally, the Municipal sanitation and technical sections are embroiled over a blame game on how to rope in the door-to-door waste contractors to remove the plastic waste dumped all along the ring road, starting from Comba, falling in Margao constituency represented by MLA Digambar Kamat and ending at Old Market, in Fatorda represented by Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai.
The sanitation section has insisted that the door-to-door garbage contractors should be called and instructed to collect the plastic waste, but has shifted the buck on the technical section to take the matter to its logical conclusion.
It is feared that tonnes of plastic waste, estimated over 100 tonnes, if remain uncollected, may flow into the adjoining river Sal in the ensuing rains.
