MARGAO
Sonsodo legacy dump, which is being remediated by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC), now seems to be prone to fire and smoke frequently, especially in the last two days, indicating that all’s not well at the waste treatment plant since the Margao civic body took over the possession of the plant and machinery from Fomento over a year and half ago.
Thick columns of smoke can be seen billowing out from the fire which has been raging inside the Sonsodo waste treatment plant for the last two days. The fire engulfing the untreated waste stacked inside the treatment plant first came to light on Friday when Municipal workers employed for the garbage work found fire and smoke billowing out from the plant. Senior MMC officials rushed to the treatment plant on Friday morning to take stock of the situation and got the fire capped.
Fire and smoke resurfaced inside the plant once again on Saturday as well, bringing back the officials at the plant, throwing up questions how come the waste stacked inside the plant caught fire when no treatment worth its name is taking place at the site.
Given that the untreated waste has been lying inside the plant for around a year now, pegged over 7000 tonnes, officials have attributed the situation to the formation of methane gas inside the plant, resulting in the fire.
‘The Goan’ understands that the fire was put off by the civic workers on Friday, but it resurfaced on Saturday. A senior official informed that the civic body is closely monitoring the situation at the plant, saying that water is being arranged to douse the fire. “The formation of methane gas inside the mound of waste stacked in the plant is the cause of the fire. Since the waste dumped inside in the plant is primarily wet in nature, it facilitates the process of formation of methane gas”, the official added.
The MMC has hired and deployed a machinery to churn the waste inside the plant to ensure that the water percolates down the mound. The official added: “It’s now over a year since the waste unloaded inside the plant has been lying unattended without any treatment. The plant is not functioning and the daily waste that finds its way into the plant is not treated. The GWMC had last year emptied the waste treatment plant by carting away tonnes of waste and got it remediated. Since then, the situation has returned back to square one”.
Another senior official reminded that the only solution lies in carting away the waste mound from inside the plant and start treatment on the daily waste. “Time is running out for the civic body. Fires and smoke emanating from the waste treatment plant only goes to show that all’s not well at the plant. It’s time for the civic body to be proactive and rid the plant of the mess”, the official added.
