Operation paves way for land reclamation
An aerial view of the Sonsodo legacy dump site which has been cleared of decades old waste through remediation by the Goa Waste Management Corporation.
MARGAO
Perhaps for the first time in the decade and half-year old history of the Sonsodo waste management site, the dump will not get covered with tarpaulin sheet during the ensuing monsoons. Neither the contractor appointed by the Goa Waste Management Corporation nor the Margao Municipal workers will be on the job at Sonsodo to cover the site with tarpaulin sheets.
Reason: The Sonsodo legacy dump admeasuring around 15,000 square metres has been successfully remediated by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC), transforming the dump site in a five-year-old remediation story.
A senior GWMC official told The Goan that there’s no legacy waste dump left at Sonsodo. Hence, he said the question of covering the dump with tarpaulin sheets does not arise. “There’s nothing to cover at the Sonsodo waste management site. The GWMC has remediated the legacy dump and handed over the land to the Margao Municipal Council”, the official added.
The official said the The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has successfully completed a comprehensive remediation of the Sonsodo dumpsite, eliminating nearly 1,87,000 cubic metres of waste. “This extensive clean-up operation has paved the way for effective land reclamation, turning a long-standing environmental concern into a revitalized area. The entire process spanned approximately five years, marking a significant milestone in Goa's waste management efforts”, the official said.
The Goa Waste Management Corporation and earlier the Margao Municipal Council and the Fomento Green were involved every year to perform the annual ritual of covering the Sonsodo dump with tarpaulin to prevent leachate from the site from flowing into the storm water drains and contaminating the water bodies.
It was due to the intervention of the High Court that the Margao Municipal Council started the exercise to cover the legacy dump around a decade and half ago after reports revealed that leachate water from the site was contaminating the water bodies in the immediate neighbourhood.
