The Bombay High Court's strictures against the Merces panchayat banning it from issuing any construction licences within its jurisdiction is a wake-up call for other panchayats who have failed to address the garbage issue within their jurisdiction. The buck has been passed to and forth. On one hand the government has been saying it is responsibility of the panchayats, while on the other side the local bodies have been crying hoarse saying they don't have the funds and infrastructure.
Government, over the years, has only ignored the undertaking given to the court on 26th June 2008 that it will investigate and take the rampant dumping of garbage to its logical conclusion. The government in its statement had also agreed to designate places for disposal of building debris within three months. Virtually nothing has been done to tackle this burning issue. So acute is the issue and non-cooperation by the local bodies, that the High Court on 11th August 2010 had passed an interim order directing panchayats of Poinguinim, Arambol, Morjim, Paliem, Candolim, Anjuna, Calangute, Fatorpa, Betul, Benaulim and Varca not to issue construction licences without seeking prior permission of the court.
The High Court had also directed all the village panchayats in 2010 to create composting facilities for bio-degradable waste within their limits and make arrangements for weekly collection of non bio-degradable waste, which includes plastics. Civic bodies were to acquire land for landfill sites to dump garbage as provided in the Municipal Solid Waste Rules of 2000.
Garbage has been a major issue plaguing Goa for over a decade, so much so that it has even hit the state on the tourism front. Except for the lone Saligao garbage treatment plant, there is hardly any significant progress or urgency shown in tackling this issue. While three other garbage treatment plants are in the pipeline, one each at Bainguinim, Verna and Curchorem, there is very slow progress and in all probability it will take years for this issue to die down.
The government must think about interim measures to tackle the mounting garbage. We still wonder why the Saligao plant is not accepting CCP garbage till the Bainguinim project takes shape. This would have given the capital city some respite from the garbage crisis which is piling up by the day.
Like several other issues, garbage too has a political connect in Goa. Successive governments and even local bodies are reluctant to take decisions because it is bound to hurt some sections of people. In a small state like Goa, politicos don't want to take this risk given the fact that electoral fortunes could be swayed by smaller numbers. It's a sad truth that courts have to step in and feel the pulse of the State more than the very people who are elected to legislate. If issues like garbage are to be sorted, government will have to take some tough decisions, no matter which way the wind blows. Government has slept over the High Court directives and it's time to wake up before the court raises a stink and freezes all construction licences.
Government, over the years, has only ignored the undertaking given to the court on 26th June 2008 that it will investigate and take the rampant dumping of garbage to its logical conclusion. The government in its statement had also agreed to designate places for disposal of building debris within three months. Virtually nothing has been done to tackle this burning issue. So acute is the issue and non-cooperation by the local bodies, that the High Court on 11th August 2010 had passed an interim order directing panchayats of Poinguinim, Arambol, Morjim, Paliem, Candolim, Anjuna, Calangute, Fatorpa, Betul, Benaulim and Varca not to issue construction licences without seeking prior permission of the court.
The High Court had also directed all the village panchayats in 2010 to create composting facilities for bio-degradable waste within their limits and make arrangements for weekly collection of non bio-degradable waste, which includes plastics. Civic bodies were to acquire land for landfill sites to dump garbage as provided in the Municipal Solid Waste Rules of 2000.
Garbage has been a major issue plaguing Goa for over a decade, so much so that it has even hit the state on the tourism front. Except for the lone Saligao garbage treatment plant, there is hardly any significant progress or urgency shown in tackling this issue. While three other garbage treatment plants are in the pipeline, one each at Bainguinim, Verna and Curchorem, there is very slow progress and in all probability it will take years for this issue to die down.
The government must think about interim measures to tackle the mounting garbage. We still wonder why the Saligao plant is not accepting CCP garbage till the Bainguinim project takes shape. This would have given the capital city some respite from the garbage crisis which is piling up by the day.
Like several other issues, garbage too has a political connect in Goa. Successive governments and even local bodies are reluctant to take decisions because it is bound to hurt some sections of people. In a small state like Goa, politicos don't want to take this risk given the fact that electoral fortunes could be swayed by smaller numbers. It's a sad truth that courts have to step in and feel the pulse of the State more than the very people who are elected to legislate. If issues like garbage are to be sorted, government will have to take some tough decisions, no matter which way the wind blows. Government has slept over the High Court directives and it's time to wake up before the court raises a stink and freezes all construction licences.
