the goan I network
PANAJI
The Panjim bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa accepted a statement by the Margao Municipal Council that they have identified a parcel of land admeasuring 1750 sq metres within the Sonsodo dumpsite which could be given to the agency contracted with clearing the legacy dump.
Hearing a petition filed by the Citizens for Sonsodo, the High Court took on record the statement and kept the matter for further orders on Friday.
“An area of 1750 square metres on the eastern side of the secured landfill site will be made available to the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) on or before December 1, 2019 by clearing all the waste which is presently at the site. This statement is accepted as the statement made to this Court,” the High Court noted.
The High Court was earlier informed that an area of about 5000 to 6000 sq mtrs of land is required, that too, for a limited period, for the purpose of effective execution of contract for removal of the legacy dump which contract is proposed to be awarded to the contractor.
On Wednesday, the High Court expressed its displeasure that the MMC, the officials of the State Government and the officials of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) were unable to identify the site.
Although the title of the affidavit is “Compliance Affidavit”, we find that the affidavit only contains some reasons for non-compliance.
The MMC lawyer had pointed out that such site is available, however, there are some restraint orders in proceedings taken up by Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd.
The HC then directed officials to go to the site and identify an area of 5000 to 6000 sq mtrs from out of the area of about 20,000 sq mtrs or thereabouts which is stated to have been allotted to Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd.
“We make it clear that such site will have to be identified because this issue of clearance of legacy dump has reached alarming proportion,” the HC noted.
