the goan I network
MARGAO
Take note, the Margao civic body has already spent a whopping Rs half a crore on the temporary covering of the site annually with a permanent solution of the decade-old problem eluding the city fathers and successive governments. Municipal officials in the know say it would cost the civic body nothing less than Rs 10 lakh this year to carry out the annual exercise, taking the total money spent on the temporary covering of the dump yard to over Rs 60 lakh till date.
Incidentally, while the Municipal Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai has issued directions to the technical section to prepare estimates for the covering of the dump yard with tarpaulin, Minister and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai made his presence felt at the Sonsodo site on Sunday morning to take stock of the situation.
Vijai’s presence at the site assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of his promise made after becoming a Minister that he would accord top priority to bring a solution to the Sonsodo tangle.
It is learnt that an inspection of the Saligao dump, which was cleared by the agencies, has been fixed by the Chief Minister along with other Ministers on Monday, to explore the possibility of using the same technology to clear the Sonsodo dump yard. “The Sonsodo site will be cleared on priority. Segregation of the waste, which has been mooted in many quarters can be given a try to resolve the problem,” Vijai said after visiting the site.
Interestingly, the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) had floated a tender late last year to treat the Sonsodo via bio-remediation. The project, however, has failed to see the light of the day till date after the Margao Municipality expressed its inability to make available a land fill site to take care of the waste after segregation.
Sources say that Vijai can play a role in resolving the Sonsodo mess since he controls the Margao civic body headed by Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai and is a prominent member of the Parrikar government. “If the Margao Municipal Council can create space to act as a land fill site at Sonsodo, it will go a long way in resolving the tangle,” sources in the know said.
Incidentally, both Vijai and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had assured Madgavkars and Fatordekars that they would try and dispose of the Sonsodo waste if given a mandate in the election. If Parrikar had promised to clear the site of the waste within three months,
Vijai had mooted transportation of the waste to Gulbarga-Karnataka.
