MARGAO
It’s an sheer irony that when the Margao Municipal Council is spending crores of rupees on door-to-door waste collection and solid waste management, the city hasn’t been liberated from the black spots and stop unsegregated waste finding its way to the garbage treatment plant.
Blame it on the adjoining villages or otherwise, black spots have given bad name for the city, with the civic body struggling to handle waste dumps along the roadsides throwing up a moot question -- how come garbage finds itself to the black spots when the civic body spends lakhs, if not crores of rupees on door-to-door waste collection?
Pose this question to the Margao Municipal City Fathers and the Babus and they lose no time to point accusing fingers at the neighbouring villages for the waste that finds its way at the black spots.
Inquiries have only revealed that Margao Municipal area still plays host to as many as 33 black spots across the city. Officials say the number of black spots have come down from a whopping 65 to 33 in the last couple of months, after the civic body initiated measures to dissuade unscrupulous elements and businessmen from dumping the waste at the black spots. “Right now, Margao plays host to around 33 black spots, spread across the city. While we have been moving step by step to rid the black spots located inside the city, we have still not found a solution to the black spots around the city periphery,” remarked a senior MMC official.
The official added: “The High Court is monitoring the progress of work to rid the cities and villages of the black spots. In Margao, we face a peculiar issue. The waste comes from the neighbouring villages, which too have been struggling to put solid waste disposal mechanism in place.”
Attempts by the Margao Municipality to seek intervention of the district authorities to bring about a coordination and put a stop to the waste entering from the villages to the city has not helped to address the issue. “It’s time the district and State authorities get the panchayat bodies on board to resolve the garbage crisis,” the official added.
Incidentally, a couple of years ago, then Urban Development Minister late Francis D’Souza had suggested to the Margao civic body to accept the waste coming from the village, especially the commercial capital to get rid of the black spots. D’Souza’s suggestion was simple that no amount of vigilance and fines will dissuade unscrupulous garbage contractors and commercial establishments from the neighbouring areas from dumping the waste at the black spots.
Five years down the line, Margao is still struggling with the black spots, with MMC’s drive to track down the miscreants not bringing the desired results. A senior official, however, said that MMC’s garbage disposal system is down in the dumps for the moment and accepting waste from the neighbouring areas sans a full-fledged plant will further aggravate the solid waste management in the city.
Lakhs spent, but segregated waste collection still a far cry
