Like many villages in the state, Bandora in Ponda taluka is also struggling with the issue of garbage. The problem is always about selecting a site for setting up a garbage treatment plant. More often than not, the site selected by the panchayat is rejected by the Goa State Pollution Control Board as the same is found inappropriate. Villagers who gathered on Sunday were peeved that a site had not yet been selected and their contention was that if one was not suitable then select another. But this is not an easy task for panchayats as land is not easily available. While the idea of having treatment plants in every village is laudable this is not always feasible. The alternative of having a treatment plant for a cluster of villagers was also rejected because one village did not want to accept the garbage from others. Consequently, villages have been struggling to find solutions to the garbage issue. What villages need is an ‘out of the box’ approach. If there is money in waste why can’t panchayats formulate plans to treat garbage from other areas but was a stiff fee? That would increase the revenue of the village and simultaneously take care of the garbage problem, just like how Karnataka is willing to treat bio-medical and plastic waste from Goa for a charge.
