MARGAO
Will the years of stink and eyesore at Sonsodo finally see a turnaround in the coming months, courtesy High Court’s intervention? For, the High Court has not only got the Margao Municipal Council to unveil an action plan to rid Sonsodo of the eyesore, but has made the civic body to walk the talk by adhering to the timeline without giving any excuses.
Apart from the legacy waste and disposal of accumulated RDF at the legacy dump, micro issues such as setting up of baling machines, treatment of daily waste, putting firefighting mechanism in place, construction of land fill site et al, plaguing Sonsodo have come under the scanner of the High Court.
If endless delays and failed deadlines marred Margao Municipal Council’s mission Sonsodo in the recent past, the civic body has now been left with no option than to walk the talk with the High Court getting the Municipal body to set timelines for each and every work proposed at the waste dumping site to treat the waste as per the Solid Waste Management rules.
In fact, when the Margao Municipal Council’s counsel made a host of submissions to the High Court in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Citizens for Sonsodo through its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas, how to go about meeting the timelines, they found acceptance with the High Court bench comprising of Justice M S Sonak and Justice Valmiki Menezes, but not before the MMC was mandated to adhere to the timeline without giving any excuses.
Take note, the PIL petition filed by Roque Mascarenhas pertains to the half-a-century old Sonsodo legacy dump, but this is the first time ever that Margao Municipal’s failure to handle the daily waste generated in the commercial capital is under the High Court scanner.
A glance at the High Court order dated April 12 shows that the Margao civic body has complied with the High Court directions, but gave an undertaking to honour the timelines, raising hopes of a turnaround in the coming months.
The Goan takes a close look at the High Court order and found that the court has made the civic body to deliver on the timelines on each of the issues plaguing Sonsodo without giving any more excuses.
Landfill construction
The civic body submitted before the court that the MMC has already deposited Rs 1 crore and has complied with the other directions issued by the court in the order dated December 6, 2019. The GWMC further submitted it is in the process of tendering the landfill construction work and all efforts will be made to complete the same at the earliest. Work will be completed in three months past monsoons preferably by the end of December 2023.
Treatment and disposal of the (daily) waste
Records indicated that the MMC collects 35 tonnes of wet waste and 15 tonnes of dry waste each day. Of this, about 10 tonnes is sent to the Saligao Waste Treatment Facility, five tonnes is treated at the SGPDA bio-methanation plant and 20 tonnes is presently being dumped into the Waste Treatment Shed. The GWMC states that this waste treatment shed is now full of waste and screening must commence at the earliest so that the old waste is cleared at the earliest.
The GWMC has suggested installation of three more baling machines in addition to the existing four machines. The MMC lawyer told the court that two more baling machines will be procured immediately and put into operation at the site. High Court directed this exercise must be completed in the next 15 days since such baling machine costs hardly Rs 5 lakh each.
Existing old waste in Sonsodo waste management shed
There’s finally a ray of hope that the piled up waste inside the waste management shed will be carted out and remediated. For, the Municipal lawyer submitted to the court that the existing old wet waste in the shed will be positively cleared by the end of September 2023. The MMC statement has been accepted as an undertaking to the court and the MMC will have to act accordingly.
Electricity supply and transformer
On this issue which has been hanging fire, the MMC has finally stated that necessary transformer will be provided at the site within one month from Wednesday. The Municipal lawyer further stated that necessary applications have already been made to the Director of Municipal Administration. Given the past experience that applications made to the DMA remained pending for months, the Advocate General stated that these applications will be processed expeditiously. Considering the necessity of having dedicated electricity supply at the site, the court said the transformer should be installed within two months from today.
