Team Herald
MARGAO: In a bid to curb the mounting problem of garbage being dumped by miscreants in Benaulim, a team of nearly 20 volunteers from the village have taken the responsibility of keeping vigil over the roads and fields, hoping to nab the culprits.
On Tuesday, they caught hold of yet another person involved in the clandestine dumping of garbage and made him clean the area, and even trim the overgrown roadside bushes, before handing him over to authorities, to be fined and castigated further.
Interestingly, this team is keeping a watch out for the litterbugs with the help of CCTV cameras that were installed by the villagers themself. These volunteers have caught several persons red-handed, in 15 incidents since December 2022.
Meanwhile, the local government authorities are yet to come out with an action plan to deter the dumping of waste in open places, spurring proactive villagers to take on the task themselves. The team of sentinels comprise citizens from Mondo, Cana and Pedda wards.
A few of them monitor the CCTV cameras,
while the others are field operatives.
Xavier Pereira, Sarpanch of Cana-Benaulim panchayat, panch members and other alert citizens also help the team in their neighbourhood watch initiative. “A well-wisher came forward to spend money on a good cause, and hence, we installed four CCTV cameras in and around St John the Baptist Church at Benaulim. Since December 2022, at least 15 miscreants who were dumping garbage in the fields were nabbed with the help of these cameras,” said Roque Fernandes, a resident of Benaulim.
He added that once they identify the culprit, the case is handed over to the panchayat to impose fines. “However, we see to it that the culprits clean the place. Till date, we have nabbed chicken shop workers and even hoteliers and caterers who operate in other places, but had come to Benaulim to dump their waste,” said Fernandes.
While the sentinels are trying to tackle the garbage menace in Benaulim, villagers from several other villages in Salcete are finding it difficult to halt the dumping of garbage and hazardous, rotting chicken waste on the roadsides and remote areas.
