MARGAO
Margao City Fathers and the powers that be controlling the civic body may soon have to grapple with a contentious question “ what was the intention behind the High Court’s series of directions to the Margao Municipal Council since 2023 in the Public Interest Litigation filed by Citizens for Sonsodo through its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas?
Did the High Court issue the directions to the civic body with the sole intention of clearing the mess at the Sonsodo waste management site or to take the entire process to the logical conclusion by setting up waste treatment mechanism at Sonsodo?
The MMC may have to further answer whether the civic body has spent crores of rupees on Sonsodo to set up the logistics and infrastructure at Sonsodo just to satisfy the High Court that it has complied with the directions or go with the High Court’s intent to set up a 15-tonne bio-methanation plant at the waste dumping site.
In fact, while disposing of the PIL earlier this year in March last, the High Court had issued a clear direction in respect of the setting up the 15TPD bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo or making the 5TPD bio-methanation plant operational. The March 2024 order had further directed the Margao Municipal Council to file a status report/affidavit by July 5, 2024.
