Garbage menace returns to haunt Canacona

CANACONA, NOV 19
The garbage menace has returned to haunt residents in the taluka, as heaps of waste is being dumped at isolated areas within city limits.
A number of isolated locations within the municipal areas have been turned into dump yards by a few people, who are now in a haste to prepare for the tourism season.
Unwanted material and other waste, including leftover food, are being dumped at a bypass in Devabhag, making the road unbearable for motorists.
This bypass road is primarily being used by vehicles to take a short cut to and from Palolem.
Incidentally, this area also has an open canal of the Chapoli dam, while paddy fields and the Devabhag football ground are also located in the vicinity.
It may be recalled that the Canacona Municipal Council’s (CMC) , ignoring stiff opposition from residents of Agonda and Khola, had acquired a roadside land at Dumane outside the municipal limits as its garbage site.
According to sources, the CMC has still not developed the site,nor has it cordoned off the area. Garbage compactors are sometimes seen stationed at the site.
“CMC reportedly plans to build a garbage treatment plant at Dumane, but garbage is presently being dumped at different locations, which includes sites beyond the railway tracks at Gulem and near the Devabhag bypass as well,” a source told Herald.
Last year, farmers cultivating sugarcane plantations had suffered losses after a fire to destroy the garbage spread to the nearby cultivations.