The wheels of administration finally began to move, thanks to the intervention of the High Court. The irony is that it needed the High Court to tell the Margao Municipality that it had failed in its responsibility towards citizens. Otherwise, how does one explain the callousness that was on display?
A day after the court came hard on the civic body over its failure to put the garbage mess in place, the city fathers set the administration in motion and hired three trucks to transport 30 tons of waste from Sonsodo to the Saligao garbage treatment plant. Although it comes at a whooping price, going by the cost of transportation, that was the only practical solution to ease off the pressure for now, even as the shed is chock-a-block with wet waste. Also, the direction by the South Goa Collector to the chief officer to report the waste management activities carried out at the site daily reflect a sense of seriousness on the issue.
It may be recalled the Margao Municipality failed to meet its date set before the court on April 12 to resolve the vexed garbage issue in a phased manner. The civic body listed out a host of measures before the court to remedy the situation that was starring authorities right in their faces and threatening to escalate beyond control. Nothing changed on the ground three months later, and the civic body was before the court seeking more time.
The municipality may have got a temporary breather with the new arrangement of transporting all the Sonsodo waste to Saligao, minus the five-ton handled at the SGPDA plant. However, it is still left with the monumental task of clearing the piled-up waste at the shed. The Cacora garbage treatment plant, which is nearing completion, may take some time for commissioning and with the other plant at Verna still not ready, the municipality will have to do some hard thinking.
Given the situation at hand, and following the intervention of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant through the High Powered Coordination Committee, there is no option but to expedite work on the proposed new plant. The question here is about capacity. The dilemma here is that once the Cacora plant is operational, much of the garbage load on Sonsodo would be eased off. Moreover, considering future exigencies, going for a bigger capacity plant would mean a higher cost.
Meanwhile, the MMC must find answers to the status report the Goa Waste Management Corporation submitted to the court. The GWMC pointed out that the facility has no proper three-phase electricity connection. It mentioned that the dry waste was not baled, resulting in the formation of a waste dump near the landfill area. On the wet waste, the report said that it was not aerated daily, leading to a delay in decomposition and treatment, which could eventually lead to methane gas generation, responsible for fires. Plus, the machinery on site was said to be non-operational.
While the wheels of time continue to tick on Sonsodo, and as the machinery begins to move, many questions will still need answers.
