TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) on Monday lodged a formal police complaint into the fire mishap at its Dumane garbage treatment plant, after the CMC chairperson suspected that it could be an incident of arson and sabotage.
CMC Chief Officer Sudhin Natu, who is also Deputy Collector Canacona, along with CMC Chairperson Simon Rebello visited the Dumane garbage treatment plant on Monday morning and later filed an official police complaint with Canacona police, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter and the arrest of the culprits.
Eyebrows are being raised as the fire mishap occurred at a time when the garbage treatment plant, which has been lying idle since the last one-and-half years, was set for revival and the repair team was expected by the weekend.
“If need be, we will not hesitate to request the Crime Branch to take over the investigation and bring the culprits to book, as this type of misdemeanours not only creates monetary loss to the public treasury, but it can be very detrimental to public health,” said Rebello, while pointing to the smell of burning and the smoke.
Residents in the area have called for intervention of the Pollution Control Board, as they alleged that civic workers are also involved in regularly burning garbage at Dumane garbage treatment plant.
When contacted, police sources confirmed having registered a complaint by CMC.
Meanwhile, the stench emanating from the site has caused problems to nearby residents and motorists. The entire Dumane area right up to Devabhag towards Canacona and Keri towards Agonda was filled with smoke throughout Sunday night and the stench emanated throughout Monday.
Motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, struggled to ride along the road to avoid the burning smell and smoke, which engulfed the entire area. The dozen-odd residents in Dumane also found it difficult to reside in their homes on Sunday night. Some residents reportedly stayed in homes of their relatives on Sunday night.
