TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The countdown has begun to cap the 25,000 tons of hazardous waste lying at the Cuncolim Industrial estate.
Wednesday saw a heavy earthmoving machinery working at the plot containing the hazardous waste to rearrange the waste before it is covered by tarpaulin sheets.
Though The Axis Ltd was given a deadline of May 15 to complete covering of the waste dump, the actual work of capping the mound is yet to begin till date, with the heavy earth moving machinery only re-arranging the hazardous waste.
A Goa State Pollution Control Board representative Pravin Phaldessai told Herald at the site that the process of covering the hazardous waste has begun and the entire work of covering the waste will be completed before the onset of monsoons.
Another GSPCB official said the Board has issued clear-cut guidelines to the company on how to go about the work.
It’s nearly a year since the GSPCB had first lodged an FIR with the Cuncolim police against The Axis, Sunrise Zinc and SBI Stressed Management, Mumbai regarding the hazardous waste lying in Plot L-2 in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
Though the police had registered a criminal case against the trio for endangering the lives of the people, the waste has remained as it is, with moves to direct the concerned parties to cart the waste away coming a cropper.
