PANAJI
Within two years, Goa's public transportation system will be fuelled by the gas generated from household waste, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
As part of his speech on the occasion of the 55th annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, the Panaji by-election candidate promised a clean environment through technological solutions.
"As part of my Government's commitment towards building a clean environment and clean Goa, we are launching a pilot project of India's first bio-gas bus which will be fuelled by the garbage in Goa. And in two years, bulk of the public transportation system in Goa will be fuelled by the waste that is generated in Goan households," Parrikar said.
To fuel this plan, Parrikar informed the gathering of his government's plans to set up up three more such "state-of-the-art plants through which all the garbage in Goa will be handled in the most scientific and efficient way."
Parrikar's comments come a day after the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas said that he had proposed a green fuel chain in Goa. Parrikar, lamented the state of the environment in the country especially in the cities saying that solutions need to be found for these problems.
"Air quality in some parts of our nation is way above the danger mark. While I was young, air quality in a metro city was hardly an issue. But when I was in Delhi as the Defence Minister, I saw many people roaming around with face masks to filter the air they breathe. With our depleting water sources, and poor quality of air, how are we going to face the future?" Parrikar said.
"And in many other parts of India, several of our perennial rivers have become seasonal rivers and some of them have even vanished. Many of our dams are at quarter way mark and reservoirs are filled fractionally, thereby resulting in a decline in the per capita water availability from 3000 cubic metres to 1123 cubic metres, as against the global average of 6000 cubic metres," Parrikar said.
"And for all this, source segregation is the key. Every household across India must segregate their garbage at source, because that is the most critical aspect of Swacch Bharat," he added.
Earlier Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said that Goa should take up the challenge to be a green fuel state.
"On Friday, I met Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in Delhi during the swearing-in ceremony of Venkaiah Naidu as Vice -President of India and I proposed that the union government and Goa government should come together to create a green energy fuel chain in Goa," Pradhan said on Saturday.
"I am 100 percent sure that we can make green fuel in Goa and this will add to the tourism potential of Goa. This state can be an experiment ground under the dynamic administration of Parrikar," he added. Earlier it was Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari who suggested that Goa should employ bio or cleaner fuel to run the public transportation syste m.
"In Nagpur, we have 200 electric taxis and electric buses. You should have buses running on electricity or bio-fuel in Goa. Don't use petrol or diesel. This is very important from controlling pollution viewpoint," Gadkari had said.
