MARGAO
High Court’s two-week extension granted to Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) and the contractor to complete the balance two per cent of the remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump has ended on Sunday.
GWMC Managing Director, Dr Levinson Martins claimed on Sunday that work on the bio-remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump is finally completed after a three-year operation, excluding the monsoon.
A visit to the Sonsodo site on Sunday has revealed that JCB machines and remediation machinery were at work at the site, and a huge mound of RDF and inert has taken shape at Sonsodo. Martins, however, attributed the presence of remediation machinery is to further process the inert and RDF before the same is carted away.
A casual glance at the Sonsodo site further revealed that perhaps for the first time in over two decades, the shed and plant erected by Komex International in the late 90’s and which lay buried deep inside since then for want of treatment, now stands tall and visible at Sonsodo, indicating the remediation work carried out by the GWMC-appointed contractor.
Komex was invited by the MMC in the late 90’s to set up a garbage treatment plant, but the Pune-based company soon quit Sonsodo, leaving the shed and plant behind. With non-stop garbage dumping at Sonsodo over the years, the Komex plant and shed were both buried deep inside the legacy dump.
Says GWMC MD Martins: “That the Komex plant and shed is visible again at Sonsodo goes to show the remediation work carried out by the GWMC over the last three years. The area around the Komex plant and shed was first remediated by GWMC to facilitate the MMC to execute its plans to set up a garbage treatment plant. It’s another matter that the MMC plan could not fructify till date,” he said.
Martins explained that the machinery is running at Sonsodo just to further screen the inert which may have other waste. “As far as the Sonsodo remediation is concerned, the GWMC has completed the work as per the agreement with the contractor. The GWMC will now focus on the transportation of the RDF and inert generated at Sonsodo during the remediation,” he said.
Though the GWMC contractor has till December 2024 to transport the RDF from Sonsodo, Martins said the Corporation is keen in shifting the RDF and inert from the site before the onset of monsoons. “It is a fact that transportation of RDF to the cement factories in Karnataka has slowed down after the COVID-19 pandemic. But, we are trying our level best to clear the RDF at the earliest,” he said.
At the last date of hearing on March 6 of the PIL writ petition filed by Citizens for Sonsodo through its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas, the GWMC had submitted that remediation work of the legacy waste at Sonsodo is complete to the extent of 98 per cent, further submitting that the balance of two per cent of the work would be completed within a maximum period of 10 days, which has ended during the weekend.
GWMC, MMC HAVE TASK AT HAND TO DISPOSE HUGE RDF MOUND
MARGAO: How will the Goa Waste Management Corporation or the Margao Municipal Council dispose of the mound of RDF from Sonsodo? Will the two agencies find alternate sites for the temporary dumping of the RDF before the onset of monsoons? Or, whether the government and the GWMC scout for cement factories in the neighbouring state of Karnataka for the disposal of the RDF from Sonsodo?
These and other questions will be deliberated upon at the High Court-directed meeting of State government officials and officials of the GWMC and the Margao Municipal Council, besides the contractor engaged for the Sonsodo remediation work on Monday at Saligao.
The High Court brief before the meeting convened by GWMC Managing Director, Dr Levinson Martins scheduled on Monday is simple -- the parties must explore the possibility of magnifying the alternate site to which the RDF could be transferred temporarily.
That’s not all. The High Court bench comprising of Justice Valmiki SA Menezes and Justice M S Sonak, was clear in saying the meeting should further deliberate on the RDF concerning the cement factories or other suitable purchasers, if some alternate sites are procured, then, the Sonsodo site would be available for setting up the state-of-the-art solid waste management plant.
At the last date of hearing, the High Court has even suggested that the GWMC should also involve at the meeting if any other parties are concerned with the Sonsodo issue.
The issue at hand is the RDF mound located at Sonsodo, generated during the remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump. The RDF has taken the shape of a mound at Sonsodo after the Margao civic body had failed in its attempt to find suitable place for the temporary storage of the RDF, before the same was transported to the cement factories in Karnataka.
In the absence of alternate site for storage of the RDF, the GWMC had been managing the job by storing the RDF at Sonsodo itself and transporting the same to the cement factories from time to time.
