MARGAO
Even as the Margao Municipal Council has mulled setting up an additional bio-methanation plant the SGPDA wholesale fish market, the existing 5TPD plant at the SGPDA retail fish market has come back to haunt the City Fathers and Municipal babus.
Even as foul odour emanating from the plant has not stopped till date, the Margao Municipal Council has told the plant owner to comply with certain directives for the efficient functioning of the plant.
The civic body and the plant owner are yet to resolve the issue of handling the slurry generated in the plant after the treatment of waste. While locals have alleged that the slurry is discharged in the adjoining fields with the PWD imposing a ban on accepting the slurry at the Sewage Treatment plants at Margao and Vasco, the Margao Municipal Council has now dashed off a letter to the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) to accept the slurry generated by the bio-methanation plant at Margao at the Effluent Treatment Plant set up at the Cacora waste treatment.
That’s not all. While it’s now two years since the 5TPD bio-methanation plant was established with much fanfare, with the powers that be even announcing that the Margao Municipality would earn a revenue of Rs three lakh per month of sale of power generated by the plant, the civic body is yet to earn any revenue till date.
The Goan understands that the Margao Municipality recently invited the promoter of the bio-methanation plant to the civic body for discussions on a host of issues plaguing the plant.
While the minutes of the joint meeting between the MMC officials and the Plant promoter are not yet finalized, Chief officer, Gaurish Sankhwalkar told The Goan that the Municipality took a review of the functioning of the bio-methanation plant in view of the show cause notice served by the Goa State Pollution Control Board. “There were some issues which needed to be discussed with the plant promoter. Accordingly, directions have been issued to the promoter to comply with the directions within a time-frame”, he said.
To a query where exactly is the civic body disposing of the slurry generated by the plant, the Chief Officer said the civic body has written a letter to the GWMC to accept the slurry at the ETP set up at the Cacora waste management plant. “The cost of transporting the slurry generated by the biomethanation plant will be borne by the MMC”, he said.
Incidentally, the MMC is presently sending its wet waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant and the Saligao waste treatment plant for disposal.
Meanwhile, eyebrows are being raised in the corridors of the Margao Municipality and outside as to why suddenly the MMC has decided to set up another Bio-methanation plant at the SGPDA wholesale fish market when the functioning of the existing plant has come under the scanner of agencies including the GSPCB.
That’s not all. The second bio-methanation has been proposed at the wholesale fish market when the wholesale fish market mostly generates thermocol and fish waste, which is not treated by the bio-methanation plant.
