16 wells near Sonsoddo dump cleaned

MARGAO: Following last week’s directions by deputy chief minister Vijai Sardesai, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has begun cleaning wells in the vicinity of the Sonsoddo garbage dump.
MMC chief officer Siddhivinayak Naik, accompanied by municipal engineer Manoj Arsekar, inspected the work on Friday. Naik said that so far, 16 wells within a 1-km radius of the dump have been cleaned and that work on the remaining wells would be completed soon.
He further said that none of the wells cleaned by the civic body so far was found to be contaminated or emitting a foul odour.
During last week’s inspection of the Sonsoddo garbage plant, Naik had informed Sardesai about MMC’s action plan for short-term remedial measures, including cleaning of wells in the vicinity, anti-larval measures, leachate control and covering of the garbage dump.
MMC sources said that once all the wells are cleaned up, anti-larval measures would be undertaken in association with the department of health services. While leachate control measures have been put in place, sources said the Goa Waste Management Agency has undertaken the task of covering the Sonsoddo garbage dump with a geo-membrane textile to help prevent rainwater seeping into the garbage.
MMC has meanwhile also undertaken pre-monsoon works and hopes to complete them before the rains sets in. The water resources department (WRD), however, is yet to undertake cleaning of the nullahs. As is the practice, the WRD floats tenders for desilting of the 10-12 big nullahs in the town.