A disaster such as this was just waiting to happen, and the authorities – the government and the local body – have to admit their failure in finding a solution to the Sonsoddo dump. There has only been lip service paid to the dump and plans made to treat the garbage, cap it, clear it, even the proposal turn it into a verticla garden, have never borne fruit. Instead, the flat ground of Sonsoddo has grown into a hill of garbage and it is that mound which is now on fire.
The fire at Sonsoddo is yet another example of the disasters that can occur when garbage is merely dumped, left untreated and not managed. It started as a small fire, but the wind fanned it across the dry garbage, leading to a major conflagration that fire tenders were struggling to put out even till late in the evening. The view is that it will take another week before the fire can be put out. It is never easy to put out a fire at a garbage dump – access being one constraint and the flamable material and gases that are released from the dump another. There are instance in other cities of India where such fires have continued unabated for days, despite continuous efforts to try and put them out.
We are a society that has evolved, and yet we have been living in the vicinity of a festering garbage dump. Sonsoddo is not located in an isolated area, or away from human habitation. There are people living around the Sonsoddo site, and there is a prestigious school almost adjacent to the garbage dump. For decades the people residing in the area, and the students of the school, have been victims of the foul smell that emanates from the dump, and of leachate seeping into the ground during the monsoon. They now have a new problem to deal with and that is the fire currently raging at the dump. This is serious, as the possibilty of the fire and smoke leading to public health issues is a real concern, and has to be tackled.
Open garbage dumps are high fire risks. A garbage dump on fire gives out toxic flames and smoke that could hang in the air in the surrounding area for the next few days, even if the fire and emergency services are able to put out the flames by this weekend. The smouldering smoke will remain for days, spreading in the area and beyond. The possibility of Margao and some of the villages surrounding Sonsoddo being cloaked in a thick and noxious smog cannot be ruled out. The fears are real and measures have to be in place to tackle any health problems arising from the fire. The administration cannot wait for the smoke to spread and then take measures.
This fire is but the culmination of the long and sad story of the Sonsoddo garbage dump. Sonsoddo needs a solution. It needs one quickly, but it cannot be a temporary measure, it has to be permanent. Earlier this month there were a series of meetings on the Sonsoddo, even inspections of the dump, and the proposal of a new technology to treat the garbage. There have been a number of technologies proposed to treat the garbage at the dump. Nothing positive has emerged from any. A solution to the dump has to be taken up as a matter of urgency. The planning has to start now, so that by the time the monsoon ends the action of the ground can begin. The fire has to be the disaster that ignites action. The fire won’t make the garbage disappear. It will still remain there until it is taken away.
