Smoke emerging from the dump continued to blanket a sizeable part of the residential area of Headland Sada.
According to information, the fire was first noticed by a staff member of the garbage treatment plant at around 5 am and he immediately alerted the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) and Vasco fire station. Fire tenders were pressed into service and the battle to extinguish the fire continued till late Thursday evening.
This is the third time in the last five years that a major fire at the garbage dump has been reported, but the authorities have still not made efforts to prevent such incidents.
Meanwhile, soon after receiving information about the incident, Mormugao MLA Milind Naik and MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik rushed to the site.
After taking stock of the situation and holding a meeting, they assured that no stone would be left unturned to clear the smoke and find a solution to the issue of fires at the dumping ground.
Naik also assured to personally follow up the proposal for upgrading the garbage treatment plant and to ask the Goa State Urban Development Agency to ensure that the work of clearing the garbage dump takes place soon.
Mormugao Deputy Collector Sachin Rana IAS, the Mormugao Mamlatdar and other officials also inspected the site.
