the goan I network
MAPUSA
Exposing the shoddy garbage collection in Mapusa, the city fathers on Thursday joined hands to slam the civic administration for failing to get its act together in putting a system in place to tackle the city waste.
Taking the lead, Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) former chairperson and senior Councillor Rohan Kavlekar said roadside garbage was not being collected properly even as fights over garbage have now reached the police station.
“The door-to-door garbage collection has collapsed in the city. Although the council has provided bins to every household, segregation of waste is not happening. Looks like no one in the municipality is in control,” Kavlekar said, blaming the officers for the sorry state of affairs.
Kavlekar was speaking at the ordinary council meeting chaired by MMC Chairperson Ryan Braganza.
Continuing, he accused the drivers and the workers of taking things for granted and failing to do their job with sincerity.
“We are discussing Swachh Bharat but the way we are handling the city waste it is obvious we are not serious about it,” a belligerent Kavlekar said.
Councillor Franky Carvalho said bills of private trucks hired to lift the city garbage have not been settled and therefore they refused to render service to the council.
He said refusal to lift garbage by private truck owners has led to a stalemate and therefore most of the garbage has been left in the open.
“This is a serious issue. If bills are not settled on time then no one will come forward to take up municipal works,” said Rajsingh Rane, the councillor from Khorlim.
Condemning the attitude of the daily wage workers, councillor Tushar Tople said workers have become “VIPs” and “we have to listen to them”.
To tide over the crisis of availability of vehicles, Kavlekar suggested that instead of hiring private vehicles the civic body should buy new trucks to collect waste.
Braganza informed the council that a proposal to buy new trucks was pending before the Director of Municipal Administration.
“Both Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza and I have been pursuing the matter with the DMA. We are hoping to soon get a sanction to purchase the vehicles,” Braganza said.
