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Old Goa
A garbage crisis is looming in Chimbel as the panchayat has been told by the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation that its waste won’t be accepted at the Saligao WTP from January 10.
The panchayat authorities informed the garbage management committee, on Tuesday, that an email has been received by the panchayat from GSWMC asking it to stop sending its waste to the treatment plant.
In light of the above, the Chimbel panchayat is finding itself in a catch-22 situation as it does not have its own waste management facility and the only option now is to stop the door to door garbage collection facility which it had started from July last year.
Speaking to The Goan, sarpanch Chandrakant Kunkolkar informed that the North Goa collector Levinson Martins had called for a meeting of panchayat secretaries from Tiswadi and Ponda talukas which are sending its waste to the Saligao treatment plant and asked them to stop the same. “We have already collected garbage fees from the people and stopping the collection midway would result in a major crisis in the village,” Kunkolkar added while informing that the panchayat authorities are trying to get an appointment with the collector asking for more time till alternate arrangements are made.
At the garbage committee meeting some sites were identified where composting pits could be set up for treatment of wet waste but there was no consensus on the same.
Meanwhile, Corlim sarpanch Shiva Naik was also at a loss for words over this sudden move by GSWMC which he said would have a major impact on the garbage scenario in the village as Corlim, too, sends its waste to the Saligao plant.
“The only option is to request the GSWMC authorities to accept our waste,” he added.
The Merces panchayat is facing a similar situation as it also does not have its own garbage management plant and sources informed that the panchayat body has taken a decision to write to the collector asking him to allow its waste at the Saligao plant.
