Team Herald
VASCO: Irked over the dumping of industrial waste in a private property near the Our Lady of Health Church Sancoale, the Parish Pastoral Council of the Church along with Sancoale villagers on Monday warned the contractor to remove the waste or face mass protest.
According to the information, the issue of foul smell and smoke emanating out from a private property was raised during the meeting of Parish Pastoral Council of the Church. During the meeting, some members claimed that they noticed hazardous smoke and stink emanating from a private property due to which they were forced to undergo hardship as the smoke engulfed the village.
To this, the Parish Priest Louis Alvares said that he too has been facing similar hardship the moment he steps out of church premises. Later, the Parish Pastoral Council decided to inspect the site and during the inspection on Monday they were shocked to discover a Sonsoddo type dump near the church property
“Today, when we visited the site, we were shocked to find a huge quantity of industrial waste dumped and that the culprits had set the waste on fire as the smoke was emanating from it. We also found a truck with the industrial material. When we inquired, the truck driver claimed that he is just dumping the scrap collected from Zuari Industries, GSL and airport but had no clue about permissions obtained for such dumping,” said Edward Fernandes, a member of the Parish Pastoral Council.
He said, “When we confronted the driver, he called his contractor to the site and the contractor assured that he would clear the dump as soon as possible. However, we told him that if the same is not removed at earliest, then we would protest in front of Sancoale panchayat. Also when the panchayat is taking measures to tackle the garbage menace within its jurisdiction, then how come the panchayat is permitting the dumping of such waste in village especially in residential areas,” he questioned.
Meanwhile, the aggrieved Sancoale villagers and members of Parish Pastoral Council later called the police with the belief that action would be taken against the culprits.
