MARGAO
Villagers of Carmona and adjoining areas descended along the Zalor-Fatrade beach stretch to clear the waste that was washed ashore on the beach stretch in the last two days. The waste was later transported to the MRF unit manned by the Carmona village panchayat for sorting and disposal.
Acting on a video that went viral, besides media reports regarding waste scattered on the Zalor-Varca beach stretch, Carmona Sarpanch Allwyn Jorge and other villagers descended on the beach stretch to launch a massive clean-up operation on Sunday.
The Sarpanch claimed to have collected about 200 bags of litter from the beach.
Talking to the media, Sarpanch Allwyn said he tried to contact the Tourism department officials, Environment Minister, Drishti lifeguards and also the beach cleaning contractor. He, however, said no help was forthcoming from any quarters. “It was very important for us that the beach was cleaned up before the next high tide as if we fail then the garbage will be swept back into the sea during the change of tide,” he said.
The Sarpanch said villagers themselves and some locals helped us to collect the 200 odd bags & transport it to our MRF site for pro-easing before disposal.
“This is a first time incident when garbage swept the entire seashore at such a large proportion never seen before. Though we have managed to clean up most of the beach area, we still request the Tourism department to give us additional hands to pick up the remaining litter which might be still lying on the beach,” he said, adding ‘it looks like we do not have a disaster management system at our disposal for emergencies like this which requires swift action from the authorities’.
Meanwhile, Varca Sarpanch Charlton Lourenco said it is really terrible to see the beach scattered with all dirt and garbage. “In fact we all humans are responsible for it. And, it is the way of the nature showing its anger by letting it out. It is not only the responsibility of government but also we as humans should not throw plastics and all other wastes in the ocean and elsewhere too. It’s high time that we as individuals have to take care of our nature and our surroundings,” Charlton said.
