MARGAO: Adding more to the nuisance pertaining to garbage in the jurisdiction of Margao Municipal Council (MMC), an incident has been reported of setting fire to the waste piled at a black spot by the unknown person.
Locals fear that such incidents are leading towards major pollution in the locality. At the same time, Chief Officer Rohit Kadam had decided to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 with immediate effect on those individuals not segregating their household waste into dry and wet and also dumping mixed waste at the isolated places.
On Saturday, a major fire incident was noticed at Chandrawado, Fatorda, wherein unknown person set on fire the garbage, including plastic leftover. The municipal workers employed over here were also clueless about the accused.
As informed by the residents, the incident was reported at the corner of Tata garage, which is one of the many black spots in the jurisdiction of the civic body.
Speaking to media persons, a lady worker, who was engaged over here to segregate the waste dumped by the unknown persons, said that she too was shocked to see the waste being set on fire.
“It seems the garbage was set on fire in the early morning hours. When I reached the spot all the waste was almost in ashes,” she said.
She also informed that hardships are being faced at the time of segregation, as people are found dumping even bottles and plastic waste over here.
A local Victor Barbosa said that this site has become a regular garbage dumping spot for many, and as a result the area stinks.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed MMC Chief Officer has issued a public notice pertaining to segregation of door-to-door garbage collection.
In the notice, the CO has said that as per the provision of Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2016, it is the prime responsibility of every individual household to segregate their own waste at source and hand it over to the municipal waste collector as per the waste collection schedule.
“It has been brought to the notice of Chief Officer by waste collection supervisors that some individual houses are reluctant to segregate their household waste into wet and dry, and they handover such mixed waste to the waste collector. In other cases, it has also brought to the notice that the mixed waste is being dumped/disposed of at isolated and unauthorised places thereby resulting in a black spot,” the notice mentioned.
“Such violators and offenders will be penalised with the fine up to Rs 5,000 with immediate effect as per provisions of Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act 1998,” Chief Officer Rohit Kadam said.
