MARGAO
Terming Sonsodo as a “post office”, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Sunday lamented that the government and the Margao Municipal Council lack clarity on how they would go about utilizing the Sonsodo waste management site for waste treatment.
Saying that the Margao Municipal Council had last week batted strongly for Urban Forest scheme at Sonsodo, Sardesai said the Council now says that ONGC has proposed to set up a waste treatment plant at Sonsodo.
He, however, warned that the people of Fatorda will not allow ONGC or any other company to set up a project at Sonsodo unless the local MLA and Fatordekars are taken into confidence. “Let me make it very clear that Sonsodo is not ONGC’s father’s property to propose a waste treatment plant. ONGC should understand that Fatorda has an MLA, not a sleeping MLA and the people who need to be taken into confidence before drawing up any plan”, he said.
He added; “Sonsodo falls in Fatorda constituency. It is incumbent on the government and the MMC to take the local MLA and the people of Fatorda into confidence before drawing up any plans on waste management. Let the government sanction a project without taking the people into confidence and people will never allow the project to take shape at Sonsodo”.
Saying the government and the Margao Municipal Council has reduced Sonsodo to a “post office”, he said what the MMC and the government is doing at Sonsodo is packing the city’s waste and transporting the same to the Cacora waste treatment plant for treatment.
Questioning the government’s recent plan to implement Urban Forest scheme at Sonsodo, Sardesai reminded that it was at his initiative that former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar had sanctioned remediation of the decades old Sonsodo dump. “Is the government and the MMC trying to say that the legacy dump was cleared of the waste by spending crores of rupees to implement urban forest scheme or to start a waste treatment plant”, he questioned.
“The government seemed confused on how to go about Sonsodo. That’s the reason why the MMC had discussed proposal for urban forestry at Sonsodo and at the same time announced plans to rope in ONGC to set up a waste treatment plant. Let them take any decision. Nothing will happen at Sosnodo unless the local MLA and the people of Fatorda are taken into confidence”, he asserted.
