Concerned residents of Saligao have highlighted the worsening living conditions faced by villagers residing around the waste treatment plant located on the Calangute plateau, alleging broken promises, health hazards and an unfair burden being imposed on the village.
Addressing the media, local resident Mario Cordeiro traced the evolution of the plant, stating that it was originally set up to process solid waste generated by the Calangute and Saligao constituencies, with a capacity of 100 tonnes per day (TPD) in a single shift. He said the plant was later operated in two shifts to cater to the entire Bardez beach belt, before its capacity was further expanded to 250 TPD to accept waste from across Goa.
Cordeiro said villagers were promised a pollution-free environment, but those assurances never materialised.
“The stench is so severe that residents cannot eat their meals in peace,” he said, adding that the government had failed to establish alternative waste treatment facilities elsewhere in the State, thereby overburdening the Saligao plant.
Invoking Article 21 of the Constitution, Cordeiro asserted that the right to life includes the right to a clean and pollution-free environment. He also raised concerns over the proposed expansion of the buffer zone from 200 metres to 500 metres under the amended MSW Rules, questioning why land was being sought only from the Saligao Communidade and not from neighbouring villages such as Pilerne, Candolim and Calangute.
He further expressed suspicion over the installation of a boom barrier on a public road near the plant.
Social activist Pradeep Padgaonkar pointed to the State’s overall waste management crisis, citing uncommissioned plants at Pernem and delays in setting up facilities at Bainguinim and Cacora in South Goa.
He said public opposition to the Saligao plant had been ignored, while similar resolve was missing in other constituencies.
Responding to a query on political intervention, Padgaonkar said local leaders were aware of the situation but urged senior ministers to set up waste treatment facilities in their own constituencies to reduce the burden on Saligao.
