Dumping thrives in Margao despite surveillance, fines

The warning board installed at the Comba ring road black spot right below the CCTV camera installed by the Margao Municipal Council.

MARGAO
Camera, notice and a warning. The menace of illegal garbage dumping  in the commercial capital, which has resurfaced in the New Year, has come back to haunt the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) after a van was caught unloading waste-filled gunny bags at the Comba ring road black spot.

The incident triggered public outrage, once again highlighting the contentious issue of waste from outside Margao finding its way into the commercial capital unabated.

What shocked residents most was the audacity of the violator, as the dumping took place at a site equipped with a CCTV surveillance camera and a prominently displayed warning board cautioning offenders of Rs 5,000 fine for illegal dumping.

Margao Municipal Chief Officer Madhu Narvekar promptly lodged a complaint with the Margao police, seeking action against the illegal waste dumping.

In his complaint, Narvekar stated that the MMC has been making concerted efforts to curb roadside dumping. “As part of these efforts, the Council has installed CCTV cameras at locations prone to garbage dumping. Late on Monday night, a person was captured on camera dumping around 15 garbage bags at the site near Damodar College,” he said.

The Chief Officer has provided the vehicle’s registration number to the police and requested that the offender be booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, with intimation to the MMC.

Margao Municipal Engineer Deepak Desai said the civic body will follow up with the police, adding that the vehicle involved has been clearly identified through CCTV footage.

Margao, the commercial capital of Goa, currently has around 50 identified garbage black spots, mostly located along the city’s outskirts bordering neighbouring villages. Areas such as Arlem, Fatorda near the petrol pump, Mungul, Malbhat, Comba, and others frequently witness waste being dumped from adjoining villages.

During late-night drives conducted by the MMC, several individuals from neighbouring areas have been caught red-handed dumping garbage at these black spots. In fact, the civic body has collected nearly Rs 4 lakh in fines imposed on violators as part of its enforcement drive.

With manpower stretched, MMC banks on CCTV to curb dumping

MARGAO: With human surveillance of the black spots has only given temporary success, the Margao Municipal Council has turned to the Big Brother to reign in on garbage violations dumping waste in the city.

Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance cameras have been installed by the Margao Municipal Council at around 11 black spots across the city by spending around Rs 2 lakh. “Human and physical surveillance of the black spots has given only temporary success. Our municipal teams did manage to catch red-handed unscrupulous elements while dumping the waste. However, it is not humanly possible for the Municipal teams to personally monitor the situation every night,” informed a senior officer.

To tide over the situation and to take the help of the Big Brother, the civic body has installed 11 cameras at 11 different black spots to reign in on the violators. “The CCTV camera at Comba has helped to capture the vehicle while in the act of disposing of the waste at the black spot,” the officer added.

New technology, old problem: Will gasification plant fix garbage woes?

MARGAO: As the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) prepares to commission a 10-tonne gasification plant at the Sonsodo waste management shed later this month, a key question is doing the rounds both within the municipal corridors and outside: Will the new facility finally put an end to the burning garbage menace at the city’s black spots?

The gasification plant, a pilot project for the State of Goa, is expected to be commissioned later in January. A visit to the Sonsodo waste dumping site revealed that the Pune-based company entrusted with the project has almost completed the erection of the pre-fabricated plant.

The project, estimated to cost Rs 7 crore, has the capacity to process 10 tonnes of mixed waste generated daily in the city. This has raised hopes that the plant could provide much-needed relief to the civic body, which has been grappling with the persistent waste dumping and garbage burning at nearly 50 black spots across Margao.

According to MMC sources, the gasification plant is designed to treat mixed waste—unlike the Saligao and Cacora waste treatment plants, which are primarily configured to handle only wet waste. This key difference has led officials to believe that the Sonsodo facility may help address the waste accumulating at black spots.

However, uncertainty remains. MMC officials are cautiously optimistic, as it is still unclear how much mixed waste the plant can effectively process, especially since such waste is typically moisture-laden, which could impact the gasification process.

The Rs 7-crore gasification plant is being set up by a Pune-based company under a tripartite agreement involving the Margao Municipal Council, the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), and the firm. The gasification technology received approval from GEDA and the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) following a joint inspection of a similar plant in Pune, conducted along with MMC officials.

Notably, GEDA had floated the tender for the gasification project on behalf of the MMC, with the condition that the civic body would bear both the capital and operational costs of the plant.

Sources, however, revealed that the Municipality has expressed its inability to fully fund the project and has requested the State government to bear the capital cost, estimated at around Rs 3.5 crore.

Whether the commissioning of the Sonsodo gasification plant will finally curb the burning garbage issue at Margao’s black spots remains to be seen, but expectations are running high as the launch date approaches.