MARGAO: The anger against the Sonsoddo dump fire has reached a boiling point even as confident officials claimed that the fire will be doused in the next two days.
Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco has threatened to paralyse the entire garbage transportation of Margao Municipality to Sonsoddo if the fire is not contained in the next two days. The fire has, however, shown no sign of dying down for the last five days. Mud dumping on the Sonsoddo dump had begun in the evening.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, District Collector Ajit Roy, Lourenco, Director of Maharashtra Fire Services & Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade Dr Prabhat Rahangdale inspected the Sonsoddo fire site.
As the fire issue entered day five Curtorkaars were complaining that they have been the biggest sufferers in the entire episode. “Not one bag of garbage has been sent by Curtorim and adjoining villages to Sonsoddo even though the dump site is situated in our village. But now, we are taking the ills of the fire and smoke,” said a Curtorim villager.
The chief minister, during an early morning visit, said that he will soon issue directions to the departments concerned to keep a check on the health parameters of the people who are in the path of the smoke.
Lourenco warned, “We will paralyse Margao garbage system coming to Sonsoddo if there is no solution in the next two days.” He added that he has been actively reminding the government to find a solution to the garbage situation.
“There is some deliberate political interference to sabotage this operation,” alleged the Curtorim Congress MLA, while commenting over the delay in dousing the fire. “Any politician sabotaging the ops will have to pay with his life if the issue is being politicised,” Lourenco said.
Meanwhile, former MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho said that the chemical Re-enzyme that is being sprayed is for treatment of garbage and not for fire fighting. “This is a farce. This is a waste of money of the people and municipality. This is going to go on,” Coutinho said.
Roy said they have issued directions to all hospitals as back up for cases of health problems due to the smoke. “Ten fire tenders are at the site. The fire has died down, smoke still continues,” Roy said.
The Collector faced questions from locals and concerned citizens staying around Sonsoddo over the failure of the Municipal body to tackle the garbage problem of the town. The Collector said, “I don’t know why Margao is facing a problem of segregation. CCP is already doing it. NGT direction mandates segregation and proper disposal off waste now. There is si months period to put the directions to place,” the Collector said.
Director of Maharashtra Fire Services & Chief Fire Officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade, Dr Prabhat Rahangdale visited the Sonsoddo site, surveyed the dump area with a drone and did a physical inspection.
However, surprisingly Fomento Green, which is one of the stakeholders, has been conspicuously missing from the action.
With the rains likely to hit the State in another five or six days, the aftermath of the smoke and fire will now flow down the drains of Margao and Curtorim.
