Proposal for Urban Forest ignites debate over the original purpose of reclaimed site
The remediated Sonsodo legacy dump awaits a final decision on future use.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
After initial enthusiasm for implementing the Urban Forest scheme at the Sonsodo waste management site, caution seemed to be the catchword amongst civic officials in the corridors of the Margao Municipal building.
If politicians and Forest officials are strongly batting for the Urban Forest scheme at Sonsodo, municipal officials in private have raised a pertinent question – did the government spend crores of rupees on remediating the Sonsodo legacy dump to reclaim the prime land and put it to future use solely for waste treatment or to plant trees under the Urban Forest scheme?
MMC officials in private are treading a cautious path over the Forest Department’s proposal to implement the Urban Forest at Sonsodo, raising questions about whether the remediated legacy dump will now play host to tree cover under the Urban Forest scheme instead of a waste treatment plant.
'The Goan' understands that the BJP government led by former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar had initiated the ambitious project to remediate the decades-old Sonsodo legacy dump with a two-fold objective: One, to rid Sonsodo of the eyesore and pollution and secondly, and more importantly, to reclaim the land for its future use for waste treatment.
Parrikar had decided in favour of the remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump after a proposal mooted by former chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), Jose Manuel Noronha, and then Member Secretary, Levinson Martins, to reclaim the Sonsodo land for future use.
The decision was taken against the backdrop of the fact that the previous Congress government had agreed to cap the Sonsodo dump on the lines of the Gorai-Mumbai waste dump yard.
Sources in the know pointed out that the Forest Department is insisting on a hectare of land at Sonsodo, which also includes the legacy dump, which has been remediated and cleared of the decades-old waste.
Margao Municipal officials, however, seemed to be treading a cautious path. “At the most, the municipality cannot afford to hand over 10,000 square metres of land at Sonsodo for urban forestry. We are ready to make available land only on the periphery of the Sonsodo waste management site,” informed a civic official, cautioning that any decision to hand over land beyond 5,000 square metres at Sonsodo to the Forest Department will be detrimental to plans on waste management.
He added: “Before making available the Sonsodo land for urban forestry, the government and the MMC should take a call on whether or not they want to set up any waste treatment plant at Sonsodo.”
Another municipal official pointed out that the briquettes project mooted by the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) would need around 5,000 square metres of land. “Assuming the MMC sets up the briquettes project at Sonsodo to treat waste into briquettes, will there be any land available to set up a waste treatment plant at Sonsodo to meet future requirements?” the official questioned.
Another official pointed out that the MMC should first set its priorities at Sonsodo – whether it wants to set up a waste treatment plant or go for urban forestry at the waste dumping site.
He added: “The Urban Forest project can be implemented anywhere where land is available in abundance. One should note that land is scarce at Sonsodo and whatever land is available now is reclaimed land via remediation at huge government expense.”
Legal mandate on waste management in limbo
The debate over land use comes amid a directive from the High Court to establish a 15-tonne bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo. The directive was issued in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by the group Citizens for Sonsodo, represented by Secretary Roque Mascarenhas.
While the High Court order was issued nearly a year ago, there has been no formal update from the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC), headed by the Chief Minister, regarding the implementation of the waste treatment facility. In contrast, officials from the Urban Development Department and MMC recently conducted a joint site inspection at Sonsodo with representatives from the Forest Department to explore the feasibility of the Urban Forest scheme.
