MARGAO
A day after the High Court directions on the Sonsodo imbroglio, the Margao Municipal Council scrambled to put things in place, with focus on the disposal of the daily fresh waste and the piling of dry waste at the dump yard.
With the State government issuing clear instructions to the civic body to transport the daily wet waste generated, pegged around 30 tons, to the Saligao waste treatment plant, the Margao Municipal Council has embarked on an unprecedented exercise to transport the waste to North Goa. In fact, the civic body has on Thursday hired three trucks, each with 10 ton capacity, to transport the waste to Saligao. Around 5 tons of daily wet waste is disposed of at the SGPDA bio-methanation plant.
The unprecedented operation to transport 30 tons of wet waste to Saligao is expected to cost the Margao civic body considering the fact that each truck will charge Rs 10,000 per trip to Saligao.
This implies the civic body will spend a whopping Rs 30,000 on the transportation of the daily wet waste to Saligao on a daily basis till a mechanism on wet waste treatment is put in place at Sonsodo, which is unlikely to take place in the near future.
The MMC had been sending around 10 tons of wet waste to the Saligao waste treatment plant and had drawn up plans to increase the daily shifting of waste to 15 tons post-meeting of the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) over a month ago.
The decision to send entire wet waste to the Saligao treatment plant has been taken in order to stop further dumping of the fresh waste into the Sonsodo waste management shed, which has reached a state of saturation.
Next on the priority list of the Margao Municipal Council is the handling of the 10,000 metric tons of matured waste. For, the Director of Municipal Administration Gurudas Pilarnekar has directed the Margao Municipal Council to remove 5,000 MTs lying in MSW shed and shift the same on the ground floor at compost storage area immediately to avoid fire incidents. The DMA has called for immediate commencement of the work and completion within 60 days.
Procure 3 more machines to increase baling operations
With the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) calling for increasing the bailing of dry waste generated in the commercial capital, the Margao Municipal Council has decided to procure three more baling machines, in addition to the existing five machines, of which four are in working conditions.
Sources in the civic body pointed out that the MMC has decided to ask the GWMC to procure the three baling machines through the portal in a bid to expedite the procurement of the three baling machines.
Authorities to crack whip on garbage contractors disposing neighbouring waste in city
MARGAO: Even as the government has tightened its screws on the Margao Municipal Council to fall in line on garbage disposal, district authorities on Thursday formulated an action plan to crack a whip against unscrupulous garbage contractors disposing waste from the hotels and establishments from Salcete countryside into the city.
This was decided at a high level meeting chaired by South Goa Additional Collector, Srinet Kothwale and attended by district Police chief, SP Abhishek Dhania, Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar and his team of Municipal engineers, besides in-charges of police stations from Salcete at the South Goa district Collectorate on Thursday morning.
Additional Collector Kothwale told The Goan after the meeting that the decision to crack a whip against garbage contractors has been taken in view of reports that waste from Salcete villages is finding its way into the city every day. He said any vehicle caught transporting the waste from the villages to the city will be seized and penalised as per the rules in force.
It was pointed out that the garbage from the neighbouring villages is dumped at the black spots in the Municipal jurisdiction under the cover of darkness.
In this connection, the in-charges of police stations having jurisdiction over the villages bordering Margao town have been told in clear terms to conduct patrolling in their area to stop vehicles laden with waste heading to Margao.
As far as the Margao Municipal Council area is concerned, the MMC has been told to set up a squad to keep a close watch on vehicles entering the city with waste.
The meeting also deliberated on the power situation at Sonsodo and the temporary measures that would be put in place to power the waste handling activities at the site.
