MARGAO
The Salcete Taluka Level Team and the South Goa District Level Team constituted under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 have a task cut out – to inspect and find out whether open dumping of mixed waste is taking place at Sonsodo on the very site where legacy waste was remediated and cleared after spending crores of rupees of tax payer’s money?
Well, this question has come to haunt both the taluka and district level teams following reports that mixed waste is being dumped on the remediated site. The question has also assumed significance given that the Margao Municipal Council had officially stopped open dumping at Sonsodo in the year 2012 after a waste treatment plant was commissioned to treat the city waste.
That’s not all. Inspection of the Sonsodo dump, sources said, has become all the more important since the Margao Municipal Council has restricted the entry for citizens and journalists at the waste management site.
Congress party spokesman Savio Coutinho on Thursday pointed out that while the MMC had carried out the remediation at Sonsodo through the Waste Management Corporation under High Court monitoring, the Council has once again commenced dumping of mixed waste at the same spot that was cleared.
While hoping that the High Court may take suo motto cognizance in this regard, Coutinho said, “What we see now is hundreds of truckloads of waste comprising of plastic, ceramic, mattresses, foams, garden waste, commodes and bath tubs too, being indiscriminately dumped on the recently cleared area.”
He added: “Earlier we had exposed with video recording of how sanitary waste and mixed waste was dumped and covered with soil. The Pollution Control Board inspected and issued notices to the Council with practically no action thereafter.”
Alleging that the Margao Municipal Council has been issued strict instructions not to give entry to citizens and journalists at Sonsodo just to hide their wrongdoings, Coutinho demanded that public spirited citizens and journalists should be permitted entry at Sonsodo at least once in 15 days, on fixed days and timings. “If required the entry may be granted along with an official of the Council,” he said, adding that this will help in ensuring that the waste management goes on as per the laid down solid waste management rules.
Coutinho demanded that the District Collector and Pollution Control Board take strict action against the Council for this new mess being created.
