the goan I network
MARGAO
Waste piled up across the commercial capital in bins and at transfer stations, threatening to raise a stink in the city as Fomento sent back Margao Municipal Council (MMC) garbage laden-trucks from entering the waste treatment plant at Sonsodo on Monday.
The episode also exposed the MMC hollow as claims by the Municipality that it’s waste segregation project is on the right track was proved wrong as waste bins and transfer stations were all full to the brim with mixed waste.
Three MMC garbage vehicles laden with waste, were denied entry into the waste treatment plant when they arrived at the plant early Monday morning. A JCB machine was placed on the road heading to the plant, while the shutters of the plant were pulled down, blocking all entry to the plant. Fomento, however, allowed a truck to lift away plastic bales at the plant site in the evening.
Faced with an unprecedented situation, MMC Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai along with Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik, Municipal Engineer, Manoj Arsekar and officials rushed to Sonsodo to discuss the situation with Fomento officials, who stood by their word that the company will not accept any mixed waste at the plant. Fomento further tightened the screws by telling the MMC that it will not accept any waste at the plant until and unless the existing waste rejects, which has choked the plant, is lifted away by the civic body.
Even as the MMC chairperson promised to get the waste rejects inside the plant, which had accumulated at the dump, Fomento officials requested Babita to give in writing. While the chairperson assured to dispatch a letter containing the MMC plan to lift away the waste reject, Babita later did a re-think, saying the MMC lawyer has opined there’s no need to give any letter since the issues have to be addressed as per the Concession Agreement between the civic body and
Fomento.
As the stand off between the MMC and Fomento continued, waste collected by the daily wage workers and the private contractor, piled up at the transfer stations and the waste bins across the city. The municipal workers were told to segregate the waste at the transfer stations, wherever possible, but the workers faced a daunting task given the magnitude of the problem.
With no garbage truck allowed to unload waste at the plant and the issues threatening to raise a stink in the city if the piled up waste is not cleared by Tuesday, the issue found its echo at the MMC meeting on Monday evening.
City Fathers demanded an explanation from MMC Chairperson on the status of the waste collection and transportation to the Sonsodo dump yard and whether any emergency plan is put in place.
Civic body pins hopes on Vijai for solution
MARGAO: Conceding that the city could face a stink if the collected waste is not disposed of by Tuesday, Margao Municipal Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai has pinned hopes on Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai who is returning home on Tuesday from London to work out a satisfactory solution to the waste imbroglio.
Babita dropped clear hints that the Municipality will use the existing dump to dispose of the waste rejects stored inside the waste treatment plant as a short-term measure to overcome the situation.
“I know the situation may aggravate further into a stink if the waste that is piling across the city is not dispose of by Tuesday. But, since Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai is returning home on Tuesday, I expect a solution by tomorrow. We will hold discussions with Fomento officials in the interest of the city,” she added.
To repeated queries from the media, the MMC Chairperson said the civic body has little option than to fall back on the existing waste dump at Sonsodo to tide over the situation.
The MMC chairperson said the Council meeting on Monday has taken a slew of measures which will help resolve the waste problem. She said the Council has today taken a decision to rope in a labour contractor to supply labourers to work on the waste segregation. She also said the Council has decided to engage around 30 workers at Sonsodo, which will help segregate the waste coming to the dump.
She pointed out that the Solid Waste Management Corporation has been requested to provide at least two baling machines at Sonsodo to expedite the baling of plastic dumped at the plant. She further pointed out that around three bio-digesters have been proposed in the markets, including the wholesale fish market and PDA retail market to treat the waste generated in these markets.
The Council also adopted a resolution to engage a private agency for a year to educate the workers on waste segregation and also spread awareness in the city on segregation of waste.
The Council meeting also ratified the decision of the Standing Committee to introduce garbage sentinels to keep violators disposing waste at the dark spots at bay. It has also been decided to erect a gate at the entrance to the road heading to the Sonsodo site to stop unauthorised dumping of waste.
Plant is choked, no place for any type of waste: Fomento
