MARGAO
Is a firefighting mechanism in place at Sonsodo to tackle fire emergencies? When will the Margao municipality cart away tonnes of waste piled up inside the Sonsodo waste management shed and remediate the same? Has the remediation of the Sonsodo waste been completed and how much time will it take for the contractor to lift way the RDF from the site?
These and other questions came to the fore at the first meeting on Sonsodo on Monday as per the High Court directions with various agencies taking stock of the ground reality to prepare a road map to bring about a turnaround in the situation.
The meeting assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the High Court directions issued on March 6 in the PIL Writ petition filed by the Citizens of Sonsodo through its secretary Roque Mascarenhas and the deadline set by the court to the Margao Municipal Chief Officer on the situation at Sonsodo on April 10.
The meeting convened by Goa Waste Management Corporation Managing Director, Dr Levinson Martins was attended by Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar, Chief Officer Manuel Barretto, Municipal engineers, Divisional Fire Officer R Haldankar, GWMC-appointed contractor and representatives of other agencies.
Legacy dump & RDF
GWMC MD Levinson Martins pointed out that the remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump stands complete. As far as the transportation of the RDF generated during the remediation process is concerned, Martins informed that the GWMC-appointed contractor has inked an agreement with two cement companies in Karnataka to send the RDF from Sonsodo. Saying that the contractor intends to transport around 200 tonnes of RDF to the cement factories every day, Martins said efforts will be made to clear the RDF from Sonsodo as far as possible before the onset of monsoons.
Piled-up waste
The Margao municipality is reported to have informed that the civic body would soon float an Expression of Interest (EoI) to rope in a contractor to cart away the piled-up waste and remediate the same. The EoI and MMC officials reportedly informed at the meeting that the same will be floated after a week. As far as the waste management shed and the approach road is concerned, the MMC delegation informed that the civic body has issued a work order to repair the Sonsodo road, channel the leachate and repair the shed walls.
Firefighting arrangements
Divisional Fire Officer R Haldankar pointed out that the Margao municipality set up the firefighting equipment in place at Sonsodo to tackle emergency fires. He said the civic body should repair the hose and also install fire extinguishers at the waste management shed at the earliest. The question of power supply figured during the stock-taking situation, and it was pointed out that the civic body is running the system at Sonsodo with a temporary connection.
Security
During the discussion, it was pointed out that the MMC should tone up the security at Sonsodo by deploying guards and by bringing the entire site under the CCTV surveillance cameras. A suggestion was also made to the MMC to set up the waste management cell headed by the Junior engineer at Sonsodo for effective handling of the situation. The MMC Chairperson Damu Shirodkar is believed to have assured that he is personally monitoring the situation.
