MARGAO: The fire at Sonsoddo dump yard has been doused, but there is fear that the pollution due to the smoke will continue to create health hazard in the locality, and nearby areas.
However, on the other hand the blame game between the Electricity Department and Margao Municipality began on Saturday; as the power department officials had categorically ruled out short-circuit of the 33 KV high tension lines, contrary to what was claimed by the Margao civic body.
On Saturday morning it was noticed that the smoke at the dump yard continued to billow all over. The situations over here are only leading to pollution in the area and posing serious health hazard to people living in residential complexes nearby.
Few fire tenders, besides trucks and other machinery were seen at the site engaged in capping the dump with mud, as minor flames were also noticed at several places. There are fears that the fire can break out any moment due to the methane gas inside the dump.
Flames were also noticed on Saturday morning, upon which fire and emergency services again rushed to the site. Thereafter labourers of the Margao Municipality were called in, to cover the area with mud.
Speaking to the media Gil Souza, Station Officer of Fire and Emergency Services, Margao said they have been engaged in the capping of dump areas with mud since yesterday night.
“There are chances of fire breaking out at any point of time due to the heat generated inside the dump, due to the presence of methane gas. We are now manually capping the area to prevent any further fire incident”, he said.
He said it is very difficult to control the smoke, and maybe they need to wait for the rains.
However, the blame game over the short-circuit seems to have more heat than the current situation, with the Electricity Department officials denying that the fire broke out due to a high tension line passing over the dump yard.
“As per our record the 33 KV high tension line snapped at 1 pm, and the fire was noticed much before that. Short-circuit is totally ruled out. High tension lines can get tripped, if anything gets wrong, but it cannot result in fire. There cannot be a spark”, said Rajiv Samant, Superintending Engineer, Electricity Department, Margao.
He said there was no load on this high tension line, and hence the fire due to short-circuit is ruled out.
“Short-circuit can happen only due to the conductor or due to the tree touching the lines”, he added.
However, Lyndon Pereira, Chairperson of Margao Municipality was not ready to accept that the fire was not due to short-circuit of high tension wire passing above the dump area.
“The Electricity Department may deny the cause, but it was only because of the live 33 KV conductor snapping on the dump, triggering a fire”, he stated, and demanded that the line be shifted immediately.
He claimed that the civic body has sustained a loss of nearly Rs 20 lakh, as the dust bins, besides one transformer, baling machine, water pump, etc were gutted on Friday.
