Goa: Sonsodo waste fire comes back to haunt Margao municipality

The fire inside the Sonsodo waste management shed came back to haunt the Margao city fathers and the Babus after the piled-up garbage was engulfed by fire on Monday morning.

The fire incident brought to the fore the twin issues of carting out the piled-up waste from inside the shed and setting up a fire-fighting mechanism so that quick and timely action is initiated at the site before the arrival of the fire brigade.

Fortunately, timely firefighting operation by the fire services and the deployment of machinery inside the shed to churn the piled-up waste helped in bringing the fire under control.

This is not the first time that the piled-up waste inside the Sonsodo waste management shed has caught fire. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find recurring fires inside the waste management shed in recent times, posing a health hazard to the residents with the smoke billowing from the shed settling down in the immediate vicinity.

Margao fire brigade rushed to Sonsodo after receiving the fire call at around 9 in the morning. The hour-long firefighting operation helped to bring the fire under control. Margao municipal officials also swung into action and immediately deployed heavy earth-moving machinery to churn the piled-up waste to facilitate the firefighting operation.

Even as the fire was capped after an hour-long operation, questions are being raised why the MMC has failed to keep the piled-up waste wet to avert fire incidents caused by the generation of the methane gas.

“The MMC should constantly spray water on the dump to keep the waste moist to avert recurring fires. We only hope that the civic body complies with the instruction issued to the body from time to time," remarked a fire officer.

The fire incident, sources said, comes as a wakeup call for the Margao City Fathers and the Babus to put into effect the undertaken given by the civic body to the High Court on the question of carting out the piled waste and remediating the same and also set up the firefighting mechanism in place at the site.

After Sonsodo came under the High Court scanner, the Margao Municipal Council submitted a timeline to the High Court to cart out the piled-up waste and remediate the same within six months. Similarly, the civic body had submitted an elaborate Action plan to beef up the firefighting arrangements at Sonsodo to tackle fire incidents.