After decades, the process to clear old garbage finally seems to be moving ahead. Or have we spoken too soon? The high-powered committee, which met on Monday, took its cue from Goa State Pollution Control Board chairman, Jose Manuel Noronha to segregate the garbage, or what's left of it, instead of capping it, an exercise that would have cost the government over Rs 7 crore. More importantly, the committee decided to appoint Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) as the nodal agency to clear the existing dump. The other two decision were to out-source collection of garbage to a private firm and charge Rs 50 per household per month for the same. The meeting was attended by Margao MLA, Digambar Kamat, Margao municipal council chairperson Arthur D'Silva and Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, all major stakeholders. This obviously means the only way forward is through cooperation.
The Sonsodo dump has defied several MLAs and municipal chairpersons in the past and evaded a solution as none of the stakeholders were on the same page, and even if they were, it was not for long. While all seem to agree that something needs to be done, differences crop up over procedures and processes. The number of years lost in setting up a treatment plant is testimony to the political bickering that has plagued this project. Consequently, Margao had to put up with leachate every monsoons and the sore sight of a mountain of garbage. In a way, the dump became a metaphor for the inefficiency of the municipal council. Every year the municipality would incur expenditure on covering the dump with plastic sheets, but invariably the task would be undertaken after the start of the monsoons, instead of before. Even now there is no certainty that the clean-up will proceed without any hiccups.
Most experts believe that segregation of the existing garbage, which could be in the range of one lakh tonnes, could take six months. However, a larger problem facing the council is where to cart the remains. The plan on paper envisages the use of compost generated, if it is free from heavy metals. The theory now is that heavy metals were detected in only two of the samples extracted from the dump which means the compost generated will, by and large, be useable.
While door-to-door collection is a work in progress, tackling the old garbage must be undertaken on a priority basis, now that crucial decisions have been taken. As the nodal agency, GSUDA has a larger role to play in the process, but if it does not handle the situation with care, it could find itself at war with the municipal council, which will drain it of energy and the will to succeed.
An opportunity to rid Sonsodo of this eyesore now stares the municipality in the face. This is an acid test for councillors and people will judge them on whether they succeed or not. With three months to go before elections are held, councillors will be willing to cooperate and GSUDA and GSPCB must take advantage of this window of opportunity to push the process through and hopefully complete it before October 25 when elections will be held. Because there is no way of predicting how the new council will react and whether it will see the job through. Also, now that the HPCC has chosen, what all believe, is a cheaper option, the state government must provide the necessary funds to accomplish this task.
