Team Herald
MARGAO: The Margao Fire Brigade, which has had to respond to multiple incidents of fire at Sonsoddo, has come down heavily upon the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) and its Chairperson Lyndon Pereira for trying to deflect the blame and not accept responsibility of the constant fires at the dump yard.
Margao Fire Station Officer Gil De Souza criticised MMC for failing to learn lessons from the numerous fire incidents that have occurred recently.
De Souza refuted Pereira’s claim that the source of the fire originated from a school premises nearby and pointed out that the Fire Brigade had extinguished that fire much before the Sonsoddo incident could take place. He said that there is no proof behind Pereira’s claim. De Souza further questioned why MMC called the Margao Fire Station 15 minutes late to respond to the Sonsoddo fire.
However, De Souza’s biggest contention with MMC was that the civic body had failed to keep adequate fire fighting facilities at Sonsoddo. He gave the example of how a huge pump and water tank at Sonsoddo is out of order, which forces the Fire Brigade to utilise large amount of its own water resources to douse the fire.
De Souza also complained that MMC officials wasted about 40-50 minutes in bringing an excavator which was needed urgently to dump mud on the fire, even though an excavator was located nearby.
In the end he said the Fire brigade had to arrange for the excavator.
De Souza also criticised MMC for not providing water bottles or food for the fire brigade staff who are risking their lives given the amount of toxic and poisonous gases that are present at the ‘mismanaged’ garbage dump site. He pointed out that had the Fire Brigade not controlled the fire in time, it could have been disastrous. He added that MMC staff was just standing while the Fire brigade staff did all the work and yet Pereira is criticising them instead of appreciating their efforts.
