It was on the 1st September, 2012, that we witnessed this act of environmental destruction,
There is a place in Mapusa on the southern bank of the Mapusa Tar river which has been acquired by the Mapusa Municipal Council from Bastora Comunidade/ Panchayat to facilitate the Ganesh immersions. This place is paved and has gates through which vehicles can come right up to the river bank. A group of four of us was having dinner in a restaurant on the opposite bank of the river. The time was around 10.40 p.m. We had finished and we were about to leave the place when we noticed a large pickup (Ex-300 model) enter the immersion area and reverse right up to the river bank. The pickup was full of bins of the type used to dispose garbage. There were around four to five persons along with the bins in the back of the pickup. Once the pickup stopped, the guys hopped of the deck of the pickup and lowered the bins and proceeded to empty the bins into the river and after all were emptied they proceeded to wash the bins in the river. One of the bins was a green bin which is used to dispose biodegradable/ organic waste. I don't suppose these guys were too particular about the colour coding of the bins. The waste appeared to be sloppy and was obviously the waste from some hotel. As though this was not enough, a little while later, two guys come on a bike and empty trash into the river from the bridge deck. This appears to be a regular operation and needs to be checked by the authorities. -- ** "Tony de Sa" < tonydesa at gmail dot com > **
