Sonsodo waste management shed saturated with matured waste, approximately 10,000 metric tons.
MARGAO
It’s official. Treatment of the 10,000 metric tons of the matured waste piled up inside the Sonsodo waste management shed will now be remediated by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC).
The cost of remediation, estimated around a whopping Rs 2.5 crore, will be borne by the Margao Municipal Council. With the GWMC insisting that the Margao Municipal Council deposit an amount of Rs 2.5 crore to the Corporation to execute the work as a depository work towards the remediation, the Margao Municipality on Wednesday submitted to the High Court that the Civic body would deposit an amount of Rs two crore with the GWMC within two weeks from today.
The issue on the remediation of the 10,000 metric tons of matured waste that has piled up inside the Sonsodo waste treatment plant came up before the High Court on Wednesday since no solution has been evolved how to go about disposing of the piled up waste inside the shed.
The Advocate General placed on record that a communication dated August 29, addressed by Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) to the Chief Officer, Margao Municipal Council, contained details and notes that the timelines for handling the 10,000 mt of waste dumped inside and outside the Sonsodo shed have not been fully complied with by the Margao Municipal Council (MMC).
The GWMC communication, inter alia, stated that the Corporation will undertake the work of remediation of the matured waste and the approximate expenses for this work would be in the range of Rs 2.5 crore. The GWMC communication further directed the MMC to deposit an amount of Rs 2.5 crore as a deposit work towards remediation activity.
MMC legal Counsel S Padiyar, based on instructions from the MMC Chief Officer, submitted to the High Court that within two weeks from today, the MMC will deposit an amount of Rs two crores with the GWMC. While the Court accepted the MMC legal counsel’s statement, the High Court directed that the statement will have to be complied with.
Incidentally, the Advocate General made a submission that the work of remediation will start by October 15, 2023, no sooner the monsoon recedes. The Advocate General further submitted to the Court that the MMC can pay the balance amount once the work of remediation starts.
The court, however, observed that the balance will have to be paid within the same period so that there is no delay in the completion of this crucial work for want of finances.
This is the third time that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) will be remediating the matured waste piled up inside the Sonsodo waste management shed. The first time the GWMC had cleared the piled up waste from the Sonsodo shed was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 at an estimated cost of Rs 85 lakh.
The second time when the GWMC got itself involved in the remediation of the piled up waste was when the Sonsodo waste management shed had collapsed and the matured waste that had piled up inside the shed had spilled out.
