MARGAO
The decade-old ritual of covering the Sonsodo waste dump in a bid to stop the leachate from flowing down and contaminating the water bodies is back at the waste dumping site.
Perhaps for the first time in over a decade, however, the authorities will be covering the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) with the legacy dump remediated by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC).
The agency appointed by the GWMC has started the work of covering the RDF generated during the remediation process at the Sonsodo dump site. While there seemed no stopping to heavy-duty trucks transporting RDF from Sonsodo to the cement factories in neighbouring Karnataka, the GWMC has started the work of covering the RDF on a cautious note so that an early monsoon does not catch the authorities by surprise.
At the last date of the hearing on April 12, the GWMC had submitted to the court that the contractor engaged by the Corporation had inked a fresh Memorandum of Understanding with the JK cement factor for disposal of the RDF.
The Corporation had further stated that around 200 tonnes of RDF per day is being transported to this cement factory, further stating that all efforts will be made to transport the accumulated RDF to cement factories.
However, since a huge mound of RDF is existing at the site and the possibility of the disposal of the entire RDF is remote, the GWMC had submitted to the High Court on the last date of the hearing that suitable measures will be taken for covering this RDF with tarpaulin so that there is no problem during the monsoons.
The High Court accepted the statement with a direction to the Contractor to act accordingly.
GWMC Managing Director Dr Levinson Martins, when asked to shed light on the covering of the Sonsodo dump, said the Corporation has started the exercise early so that the agency is not caught unawares in the event of early rains.
He, however, said there’s no stop to the transportation of the RDF from Sonsodo to the Karnataka-based cement factories.
“While the contractor is covering the RDF on one side of the dump, trucks continue to transport the RDF to the cement factories. The transportation of RDF from Sonsodo will continue till the onset of monsoons,” he said.
Covering of the legacy dump was taken up over a decade ago as per the High Court's directions to prevent the flow of leachate from into the neighbouring water bodies.
