From Sanjay Borkar
Daijiworld Media Network - Margao.
 
Margao, Feb 1: Sonsodo waste dumping site at Margao remained in highlight on eighth consecutive day, as Margao Municipal Corporaion (MMC) failed to contain the fire the dump caught  last Saturday.

Madgaonkars allege that setting the dump on fire was a ploy hatched by the municipality to dispose off the mountains of garbage dumped here, which was not processed at least since the last two years. A Hyderabad-based company that was awarded with the contract to build the garbage treatment plant, was ousted from the project  by the government as it failed to yield any results.

Councilors in the opposition keep playing the Sonsodo issue for political gains and thee people in the vicinity of the dumping site are forced to keep the doors of their windows shut for the fear that the smoke emanating from the dump would spoil their health.

When this correspondent contacted chief minister Digamber Kamat seeking his view in the matter, he said that he has ordered MMC to spread soil along with water on the dump to control the fire.

He lamented the fact that some miscreants, without bothering to think of the plight of the people staying in the vicinity of the dump, set the dump on fire and ruled out MMC hand in this incident.

"I do not think MMC would have taken to the tactics of igniting fire at the dump to dispose the garbage, but some unknown miscreants are creating this problem by setting fire. I have ordered the police to keep a close watch at this site to nab these miscreants," Kamat revealed.

Thick smoke billowing from the site posed environmental disaster and a health hazard to those living to the dump’s close proximity,  thus creating panic in the society.

People staying here have demanded that the government should come up with immediate measures to tackle this nuisance or they will be forced to hit the roads to protest against this health hazard.