MARGAO
Tonnes of dry and plastic waste washed ashore at Benaulim beach on Wednesday, only throwing up the question of the failure of the authorities to stop the flow of dry waste into the rivers, which later finds its way into the sea.
This is not the first time that plastic and dry waste, including abandoned and damaged nets is being washed ashore during the monsoon. The incident has only brought the moot question to the fore - is there no safe disposal of plastic and dry waste?
Traditional fishermen were aghast to find dry and plastic waste invading the Benaulim coast on Wednesday morning. They, however, lamented that there was no quick response from the beach cleaning agencies to clear up the beach from the waste.
Traditional fisherman Pele Fernandes informed that the beach cleaning agency ought to have mobilized additional labourers to get the shore cleared of the plastic and dry waste.
“What we saw at the Benaulim beach on Wednesday was an environmental disaster. The waste, if not cleared up, will be again washed into the sea, and the same may resurface on some other beach. The government agencies should have deployed additional manpower to collect the waste and lift away the same for segregation and treatment,” he said.
In fact, many in the know say that tonnes of dry and plastic waste must have flowed into the rivers and rivulets in the current rains, before finding its way into the sea.
Reports of plastic and dry waste flowing into the rivulets and water bodies had come from several places, only throwing up questions over waste management.
