the goan I network
MARGAO
Caught on the wrong foot on the Solid waste management program, the Colva panchayat has decided to challenge the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) action of imposing penalty amounting to Rs 10 lakh on the panchayat body over their failure to address solid waste management and disposal of waste during the Fama fair.
In fact, Sarpanch Anthony Fernandes informed that the GSPCB ought to have taken the panchayat body into confidence while conducting the inspection of the places, where officials claim to have found waste being disposed off by burning.
“The panchayat will challenge the GSPCB action of imposing a penalty of Rs 10 lakh. We will discuss with the panchayat lawyer before taking the decision to file an appeal,” sarpanch Anthony said.
He told The Goan that the panchayat has initiated a slew of measures to tackle both dry and wet waste generated in the coastal village.
Substantiating the statement, the sarpanch produced documents indicating the amount of waste, including dry waste baled by the agency engaged by the body for disposal of the same.
“The panchayat has been fined an amount of Rs five lakh by the GSPCB for failure to take care of the waste generated during the Colva Fama fair. But, photographic evidence will show that the panchayat had engaged workers to collect waste strewn all round the place. Take note, the panchayat is no way connected with the Fama stalls other than collecting the Sopo. Despite that, the panchayat collected the dry waste generated in the area during the Fama,” he added.
Dishing out statistics, the Sarpanch pointed out that dry waste weighing 5.4 tonnes, 7.9 tonnes and 5.2 tonnes was collected, sorted and disposed of by the contractor during the months of October, November and December respectively last year.
While pointing out that inert waste was also disposed of by the contractor during the same period, Anthony said this only goes to show that that the panchayat has indeed put a mechanism in place to deal with the waste issue. “The Panchayat’s Material Recover Facility (MRF) will be in place soon with the panchayat receiving approvals for its installation,” he added.
