MARGAO
Is all well at the Sonsodo waste management site, is a question citizens may ask, a day after Citizens for Sonsodo threatened to file a contempt petition in the High Court for what the NGO termed as the deteriorating condition at the site.
Pose the question to Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar and he says that the situation is far better than what it was over a year ago. And, he was candid in admitting that the breakdown in the baling machines had hit the baling of dry waste, adding that the situation has been overcome with the civic body transporting the dry waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant.
Photos of the waste management site at Sonsodo, however, does not dish out a rosy picture when the civic body had given a host of undertakings to the High Court a year ago, spending crores of rupees to bring about a turnaround after Sonsodo came under the High Court’s scanner.
Mini-dry waste dumps along the entrance road to the site going right up to the waste management shed shows that handling of the dry waste went awry in the last few days. While officials in private had attributed the situation to the exhaustion of the stock of baling strips, MMC Chairperson Damu Shirodkar said dry waste handling was hit due to the breakdown in the baling machines.
The road leading to the plant has been turned into an eyesore with waste and muck all scattered on the stretch. The civic chief attributed the situation to recent showers bringing loose mud on the road, resulting in the present situation. He promised that the MMC will take up construction of a cement road in the near future to do away with the present condition. “The civic body is giving its best to ensure that waste handed over by the households is disposed of in a scientific manner. Our workers are segregating the waste before the sorted waste is sent to the Cacora plant. It is easy to criticise, but the fact remains that the MMC is working sincerely to address the garbage issue,” he added.
Council garbage panel chief calls for treatment plant at Sonsodo
MARGAO: Margao Municipal garbage panel chief, Councillor Camilo Barretto has begged to defer with the rosy picture of Sonsodo dished out by the civic body.
In fact, the councillor posed a bold question to the councillors and the Powers that be, demanding to know why an A Class Municipality such as the Margao Municipal Council should not have its own garbage handling plant at Sonsodo.
Instead of transporting Margao’s waste to the Cacora plant, the MMC should take steps to set up its own waste treatment plant at Sonsodo and save the huge transportation costs. “We are spending tax payers’ money on the transportation of garbage from Margao to Cacora. Just imagine a situation where there’s breakdown of the Cacora plant. Have the councillors given a thought to this situation how it will dispose of the garbage,” Camilo added.
He said the Municipal technical team should keep the councillors abreast of the situation at Sonsodo on a day-to-day basis, while calling for a stop to the wastage of funds on transporting the city’s waste to the Cacora plant.
