The Stink bomb of the Mormugao Municipality has exploded yet again. The unpleasant stench circulating the area from the garbage treatment plant of MMC at Headland Sada has started affecting each and every individual living not only in the vicinity, but even kilometres away from the plant.
From local residents, to local MLAs and even minister Milind Naik who resides in Mormugao and has the constituency office close to the MMC garbage treatment plant, the idea that they live on a ‘Scenic Hilltop’ has now become a joke. The city’s main garbage dump is located close by and creates a pervasive stench all the time. However, it has been unbearable for the past week. “Be it summer or winter, night or day, this place always swarms with mosquitoes and flies and then there is the constant stench, which is particularly bad when the wind blows or during the rains. Since the last couple of days, the stench has made living in the area impossible,” said local, Omkar Haldankar.
The foul odour has become routine in Mormugao now. The stink bomb automatically explodes with every rainy season but this year, the intensity has been far worse because of the tonnes of untreated mixed garbage that has been thrown here in the past year while the plant had suspended its operation for a long time.
Due to the explosion, the first ones to get affected were the staff and patients at the Mormugao Port Trust Hospital located opposite the plant. “From hospitals to other residential areas and offices, people at all these places are irked with the casual attitude of the MMC with regard to the foul odour that is released from the garbage heap. The concerned authorities are unwilling to take any steps to curb the menace though,” said Jayesh Saterdekar, a local resident from Headland Sada.
The condition inside the MPT hospital has put the hospital administration in a tizzy. They are worried because the issue of the foul odour is affecting not only the healthy but patients at this hospital as well. “We have adopted several measures, however, the hospital today is full of flies, while the atmosphere inside the hospital is unhealthy not only for patients but also for the staff and others who visit the hospital,” said Chief Medical Officer of MPT Hospital, Dr Nimish Pillai. Dr Pillai and his team are making several rounds before the concerned authorities demanding relief from this annual menace. The residents now claim that they are fed up of complaining to the MMC about the unbearable odour while the body doesn’t want to shoulder any responsibility, they allege.
“Earlier they used to spray something on the garbage to reduce the stench but this year, the MMC has left people to die,” said Sankalp Amonkar, a political leader from Mormugao.
at the moment, over 50 staff and 30 patients at MPT hospital, besides over 500 people living in the neighbourhood are facing a high risk from the stench which can be felt even at kilometre’s distance from the garbage plant. The plea of people and the MPT has fallen on deaf ears and therefore the people have requested the Goa pollution board to take up their issue and give some directions to the MMC before anyone falls prey to the stench bomb.
