TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Fire broke out at the Sonsodo waste dumping yard on Monday, giving nightmare to the agencies, as the inferno showed no signs of abating till Monday evening, prompting the Margao municipality to intimate the incident to the district disaster management agency for action.
Fire reportedly broke out at the dumping site shortly at dawn on Monday and was brought under control with the help of two fire tenders attached to the Margao fire and emergency services. The fire, however, resurfaced around noon, forcing the Margao fire brigade to send SOS to the fire stations at Ponda and Verna as the fire showed signs of going out of control. Fire officer R R Sawant told the media that methane gas trapped underneath the dump yard is adding to the fire.
He said that additional fire tenders have been requisitioned as a precautionary measure to spray water over the dumping site to ensure cooling at the site.
Other agencies including the Margao Municipal Council got their act together and procured mud to cap the portion of the site under fire. Smoke was seen billowing from the dump yard from a distance, causing irritation and nuisance to the passersby along the Curtorim-Margao road and the neighbouring residents of Amrutnagar and Gogol.
This is the first major fire to engulf the Sonsodo waste dumping site after around half-a-decade. Last time, the firefighting operation had cost the civic body around Rs seven lakh.
Meanwhile, the civic body has mobilised around three JCBs, a Hitachi heavy duty machine, besides six trucks to tackle the fire. However, till late this evening, the agencies could not bring the fire under control and a full-fledged operation is expected only on Tuesday.
Sources said that the area hit by fire and where smoke is billowing from the site will be capped with mud as spraying the dump with water has failed to provide the desired effect.
