MARGAO
The outgoing Margao Municipal Council backed by the Goa Forward may have bulldozed its way with the Rs 43 crore project, with the proposal to set up seven bio-methanation waste treatment plants in a bid to resolve the Sonsodo garbage mess.
The proposal, however, seemed to have not found favour with the civic body presently being administered by a government-appointed administrator and Chief Officer.
Instead, the Margao Municipality has decided to go ahead with the tender of two bio-methanation plants, approval for which was granted by the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) Dr Tariq Thomas long before the outgoing council batted for the seven bio-methanation plants costing Rs 43 crore.
In fact, the MMC has on Monday sought sanction for the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) from the government, inviting bids for the two bio-methanation plants.
Each of the two bio-methanation plants which the MMC has now decided to tender is estimated to cost Rs 2.49 crore. The MMC has plans to set up one of these two bio-methanation plants at Sonsodo and the other at the SGPDA market to handle the daily generation of waste in the market.
Even as questions will be raised in the corridors of the Margao Municipal Council over the fate of the Rs 43 crore bio-methanation project, sources in the civic body told The Goan that the MMC has decided to forward to the office of the DMA the resolution adopted and confirmed by the outgoing Council on November 3 to take a call on the proposal.
Sources say the DMA will be requested to do a study on the preliminary estimates prepared by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) before taking a call.
MMC officials in the know informed that while each of the bio-methanation plants approved by the DMA’s office a couple of months ago will cost Rs 2.49 crore, the cost of each of the seven bio-methanation plants proposed by the outgoing council is pegged at a whopping Rs 4.81 crore.
In fact, the huge difference in the rates of the bio-methanation plants approved by the DMA’s office and the project mooted by the outgoing council had kicked up a row of sorts with questions being raised over the huge difference in cost between the two proposals.
In fact, while the GSUDA had worked out the cost of the Rs 2.49 crore biomethanation plants, the Goa Waste Management Corporation had done the preliminary estimates for the Rs 43 crore bio-methanation project as per the approval received from the Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo.
Of the Rs 43 crore project, a good portion of the cost goes towards the construction of two sheds, each admeasuring 2000 square meters to house the bio-methanation plants and the dry waste machines, and to construct the roads and a retaining wall.
That’s not all. GWMC had pointed out that the estimates worked out by the Corporation are preliminary in nature, saying the cost may come down in the final analysis.
