Door-to-door garbage pickup resumes with fresh plan
MAPUSA
In a bid to regain public confidence and address long-standing concerns over ineffective waste management, the much-criticised Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) has taken concrete steps to streamline door-to-door garbage collection across the town.
The MMC, which had earlier faced flak for failing to effectively manage waste collection, had temporarily ceded responsibility to the Goa State Waste Management Corporation (GSWMC).
However, it has now emerged that the civic body will continue to oversee waste collection, following fresh directions from the Director of Municipal Administration.
Sources confirmed that the MMC has issued a work order to a private agency to handle door-to-door garbage collection in 10 wards – specifically wards 11 to 20 – while its own workers will continue operations in wards 1 to 10.
The tendering process for outsourcing the waste collection was recently completed, and work has already commenced in the outsourced wards.
“We will not do any collection of the waste in Mapusa. If the civic body needs any other help, we are ready to assist them,” an official from the GSWMC told *The Goan*, confirming that the responsibility of garbage collection remains with the municipality.
A senior MMC official admitted that irregular door-to-door collection had led to an increase in waste being dumped in open spaces and by the roadside. “Now that the door-to-door collection has resumed in a structured manner, we expect to see a significant reduction in open dumping,” the official said.
However, despite the renewed focus on collection, the issue of garbage sorting continues to pose a major challenge. The municipality’s sorting facility at the Assagao plateau remains out of bounds following court directions prohibiting dumping at the site.
Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza acknowledged the difficulties and said the civic body was taking a phased approach to tackle the problem.
“Waste collection has been quite a task after the municipality was banned from dumping garbage at the Assagao plateau. But we are working on it, and things are getting organised step by step,” he said.
While the outsourcing initiative is expected to bring some relief to residents, resolving the issue of sorting and final disposal remains a critical challenge for the civic body.
