MARGAO
April 26, 2022. Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate promised to set up two 15TPD bio-digesters at Sonsodo to tide over the problem of wet waste when he visited the Margao municipal waste management site with MLAs Digambar Kamat, Vijai Sardesdai and Reginaldo Lourenco.
The Minister and the MLAs had to contend with foul odour and flies as they discussed the road map to bring about a turnaround at Sonsodo.
February 29, 2024: The Waste Management Minister returned to Sonsodo 22 months later on Thursday to find Sonsodo free of odour and flies, but there was no sign of the bio-digesters taking shape anywhere at the waste dumping site.
Thanks to the close monitoring of Sonsodo by the High Court since 2022, the site may be totally free of the legacy dump as well as the piled up waste inside the waste management shed by December end.
The basic question on waste treatment, however, remains unanswered “ how long will the Margao Municipal Council transport the city’s wet waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant for disposal? And, whether the civic body will go for the 15TPD biomethanation plant proposed by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) or the 10TPD gasification plant tendered by Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) to dispose of the city’s waste?
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and the city fathers may rush to take credit for the turnaround taking place at Sonsodo. GWMC Managing Director, Levinson Martin, however, sounded a word of caution in front of the Minister -- the Cacora waste treatment plant may reach a point of saturation within a year’s time, a situation when it may not accept Margao’s waste for treatment.
During discussions, Kamat informed the Waste Management Minister that the 10TPD gasification plant tendered by GEDA will help solve the dry waste. Again, the GWMC Managing Director pointed out the gasification technology will generate ash, which cannot be disposed of at the Sonsodo landfill site, but will have to be transported to the hazardous waste site at Pissurlem.
Kamat further said the setting up of a 15TPD biomethanation plant at Sonsodo will resolve the issue of waste management at Sonsodo but the proposal sent by GWMC to Margao to set up the plant is awaiting administrative nod from the Margao Municipal Council. In fact, the MMC submitted before the High Court on Wednesday that the civic body will take a call on the technology to be adopted at Sonsodo after a meeting with the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-headed High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC).
Before returning from Sonsodo, Monserrate told the media that Sonsodo is free from odour and flies compared to the 2022 situation.
“Credit goes to GMWC Managing Director Levinson Martins and the MMC. All the stakeholders should work in tandem to solve the issue. Sonsodo has been a health hazard to the people of Margao and neighbouring areas,” he said.
On the garbage treatment plant at Sonsodo, the Minister said the GWMC has proposed a 15TPD bio-digester at Sosnodo, adding that the GWMC is working with the MMC to resolve the issue.
Monserrate says handling coconut waste responsibility of municipality
The issue of disposing of coconut waste and debris resurfaced for the Margao Municipal Council during a visit by Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate to the city.
The Minister asserted that it was the responsibility of the Margao Municipality to clear the coconut waste, as the civic body collects fees from coconut vendors. He emphasised that vendors should not leave coconut waste at their business premises and urged them to maintain cleanliness.
Following this, Margao MLA Digambar Kamat stated that the MMC would approach the High Court for permission to dispose of mud and silt collected from drains on GSUDA land near the KTC bus stand. In response, Monserrate expressed willingness to explore the availability of revenue department land in the city for temporary use by the MMC to dispose of the cleared silt and mud from drains and nullahs.
