MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will have to do a fine balancing act when the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) on Sonsodo headed by him meet on Monday morning to address Margao’s burning waste management issue.
For, the Department of Urban Development headed by Minister Milind Naik and Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo seemed to have divergent views on the question of setting up the bio-methanation plants at Sonsodo.
While the Urban Development Department has granted approval for three bio-methanation plants, the preliminary estimates prepared by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) headed by Minister Michael Lobo for seven such plants is still awaiting the government’s nod.
What’s interesting to note is that while Lobo has favoured setting up of the seven bio-methanation plants at Sonsodo, the plants approved by the Urban Development Department and tendered by the MMC are proposed to be set up at three different locations in the city.
That’s not all. The Waste Management Minister, during his visit to Salcete sometime back, had vowed to pursue the seven bio-methanation plants proposal after the Municipal elections, raising question on the fate of these plants.
Questions are also being raised how the HPCC headed by the Chief Minister will bring about an unanimity amongst the government departments headed by two Ministers or whether the government will go for one single waste treatment plant at Sonsodo by abandoning plans in respect of the bio-methanation plants.
