MARGAO: Frustration has reached its peak among residents ofRaia-Manora due to the rampant dumping and burning of waste, including harmful plastic in open spaces. Concerned about the environmental impact and health hazards, the residents have called on the panchayat to take decisive action against this menace.
Raiasarpanch Peter Quadros andpanch Mario D’Souza promised the villagers that they would initiate immediate action against the nuisance.
Villagers stated that unknown culprits dump of waste in the vicinity of the government colony at Manora and shockingly, the same garbage including plastic is being set afire on a regular basis resulting in health hazard.
Speaking to reporters,a resident John Quadros said that the smell of plastic after it is burnt is unbearable. “This certainly affects the health of the residents including children. Dumping of waste is being noticed on a regular basis and the panchayat needs to act tough,” added John.
Another resident Anthony Barbosa informed that locals had brought this issue before to the notice of the panchayat in the past but the authorities had not paid to the complaints.
“We demand that the panchayat stop the nuisance and book those involved in setting fire to the waste which is detrimental to health,” he stated. He also urged the panchayat secretary and the officials at the Primary Health Centre to take serious note of the issue and act at the earliest. Responding to the issue, Peter Quadros informed OHeraldo that the panchayat body will immediately conduct a site inspection.
“The panchayat collects dry waste on a regular basis and hence setting fire to garbage is totally unacceptable. Surely, weshall stop the nuisance and alsocreate public awareness among the residents on the issue,”Quadros assured.
PanchD’Souza too assured that a board will be displayed at the site asking people to refrain from dumping garbage and appealed to the residents not to dump waste all over the place.
“Yes, burning of waste and plastic waste is a health hazard. I will personally discuss this issue with the Sarpanch and Secretary and initiate an action plan to stop the nuisance in the near future,” D’Souza stated.
Rise in dengue cases scares Aquem-Baixo locals
Call on authorities to fog the area to curb spread of disease as situation goes from bad to worse; request panchayat to co-ordinate with health department and monitor situation
The sense of fear was heightened after a fatality was reported recently and the villagers warned that the disease could be spread if action is not taken on time.
This issue was raised at the Aquem-Baixo gram sabha meeting where the villagers emphasized the urgent need for fogging to curb the spread of the disease. The villagers called on the panchayat to co-ordinate with the health department, get the area fogged and monitor the situation closely.
Sarpanch Pradeep Acharya acknowledged that the rising dengue cases was a cause of concern and explained that the health department currently conducts fogging only upon receiving a patient’s admit card.
Urging the health department to recognize the gravity of the situation, he said he would appeal to the authorities for immediate fogging in the village so as to prevent any further spread of dengue cases in the locality. The need to keep the village area clean from mosquito breeding sites was also highlighted as a preventive measure