VASCO: A garbage dump site belonging to the Mormugao Municipal Council in Sada, Vasco caught fire on Tuesday night. The fire was immediately doused after three fire tenders from Vasco fire station, Mornugao Port Authority, and Goa Shipyard Limited rushed to the site.
However, social activists and locals have alleged that the incident was caused due to utter negligence by the Mormugao municipal authorities, despite several complaints made to them in the past. Activist Jayesh Shetgaonkar said that the Sada site has been witnessing smoke and fumes for the last few days, but the municipal authorities have been causal in their approach.
Mormugao municipal chairperson Leo Rodrigues and councillor Damodar Naik also visited the site. Rodrigues said that the fire might have been caused due to a heat wave, and informed that the municipality had already done a procedure of tapping the garbage dump. He opined that the fire broke out probably due to methane formation.
Rodrigues also said that the municipality has now floated a tender, and that the tapping will start within the next few days after which recurrence of fire incidents will stop.