Team Herald
MARGAO: Once again, the Sonsoddo dump yard in Margao caught fire in the wee hours of Saturday, reigniting concerns over the failure of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) to implement fire safety measures.
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It took the firefighters eleven hours to control the fire, exposing severe lapses in fire safety infrastructure at the site.
Despite the urgent nature of the situation, it was revealed that essential fire safety facilities were non-functional. Neither the water pumps nor the fire hydrants were operational, allowing the fire to rage on, reducing garbage to ashes.
According to officials from the Fire and Emergency Services (FES), the incident was first reported at 2:45 am, although the fire had likely started much earlier, as security personnel at the site were found to be asleep.
“After the call, we rushed to the site and started the operation. It took us almost 11 hours to bring the fire under control due to the lack of fire safety measures,” informed Gil Souza, Margao Station Fire Officer (SFO).
Firefighters worked from all sides of the dump yard, but the lack of functional safety infrastructure made the task challenging. It was also reported that some machines at the site were damaged in the blaze.
In a petition filed by Roque Mascarenhas of Citizens for Sonsoddo, the High Court had directed the MMC to implement fire safety measures at the site. However, the latest incident has once again exposed the municipality’s failure to take action.
Former MMC Chairperson Savio Coutinho criticized the council’s inaction, questioning, “Whom do we hold responsible for yet another fire at Sonsoddo?”
He further pointed out that the MMC had failed to resolve the ongoing issues at the dump yard despite spending substantial amounts of money.
