07 Dec 2019  |   06:04am IST

Fire contained, smoke continues at Sonsoddo

Fire contained, smoke continues at Sonsoddo

Team Herald

MARGAO: The south Goa District Administration along with Margao Municipal Council (MMC) and firefighters managed to contain the fire at the Sonsoddo dry waste dump on the second day. 

Smoke, however, is still emanating from the dump and this has posed a new challenge for the council. MMC chairperson Pooja Naik assured of controlling the smoke too by Saturday. Naik said, “90% of the fire has been doused.”

Manovikas School, which is situated besides the dump, was closed on Friday to avoid the foul smell of burnt garbage. There also was smoke that hung over the area.

The dry waste piled up at Sonsodo caught fire on Thursday afternoon. It took over a lakh litres of water to bring the fire under control. It was a major task for MMC to keep the fire from spreading to the old garbage dump. Firefighters continued their operation through the night to contain the spread of the fire. Mud was also dumped on the garbage that was on fire to smother the spread.

Firefighters have continued to spray water to stop the smoke from increasing. Deputy Director of Fire & Emergency Services Nitin Raikar said, “A total of 1,10,000 litres of water were used for fire fighting operation and 50 fire personnel were involved in the firefighting operation.”

The administration used a total of 75 truckloads of mud, along with 30 municipality labourers in the operation. MMC had provided at least 30 workers for the operation.

The garbage that was on fire was removed from the site with the help of excavator machines.

IDhar UDHAR

Iddhar Udhar