MARGAO
Fire has returned to haunt the Fire brigade and the Margao Municipal Council at Sonsodo as the waste management complex saw a massive fire past midnight.
Fire tenders from Margao and Verna were pressed into service to contain a massive fire that engulfed the Sonsodo waste dump at around 1.30 am on Monday.
While the fire emanating from the dump could be seen from a distance, the burning plastic and other waste, including the RDF, the entire area surrounding the dump was enveloped by smoke.
While it took over three hours for the firemen to bring the fire under control, it is not known what caused the fire - the first major incident at Sonsodo after the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) claimed that the legacy dump was fully remediated and that what remains to be carted away is the RDF to the cement factories in neighbouring Karnataka.
Sources informed that the fire brigade used two tankers to bring the fire under control. A JCB machine was also deployed to facilitate the firefighting.
Incidentally, the High Court had disposed of the Public Interest Litigation filed by local NGO Citizens for Sonsodo through its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas last month, but not before issuing a host of directions to the Margao Municipal Council to comply with the solid waste management norms in place.
