City Fathers await new faces to thrash out village garbage entering city
MARGAO
But, hold on. The Margao civic body is indeed looking forward to the election for a new set of representatives at the panchayat bodies in the June 11 election. The reason is simple.
The Margao Municipality and Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai is anxiously waiting for a new set of representatives taking over the reigns of the panchayat bodies situated in the MMC backyard in a bid to engage them in a dialogue on the burning issue of garbage problem staring at the city and the outskirts.
For, while it’s now more than a decade and half since the Margao Municipality had shut doors for waste coming from Salcete panchayat areas at the Sonsodo dump yard, garbage from the panchayat areas, however, have not stopped finding its way into the city and along the roadsides over the years.
In fact, random assessment of the garbage issue by the civic body has revealed that garbage from the villages find its way into the city from all directions, with unscrupulous waste contractors dumping waste on road side and around the Municipal bins.
Against this backdrop, the MMC Chairperson had invited the sarpanchas heading the village Panchayats bordering the commercial capital for a dialogue a couple of months ago in a bid to address the waste problem facing the city, but in vain. Only a lone Sarpanch heading the Aquem-Baixo village, Sharon Quadros had made it to the Municipality, prompting the Municipal Chairperson to take up the issue with district Collector, Swapnil Naik. “I am of the firm opinion that we need a holistic approach to tackle the waste problem staring at the city. All our efforts will go down the drain if waste continues to find its way in the city from the neighbouring panchayat areas,” Babita told The Goan.
A member of the newly-constituted Solid Waste Management Corporation, Babita said she has drawn the attention of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to Margao’s peculiar problem. “The Panchayats, I have been told, have been doing the work of collecting plastic waste, but has no wherewithal to dispose off the wet waste. This is an area where I am looking forward to a set of new representatives to the panchayat bodies to put their attention for a lasting solution so that garbage from the villages do not come into the city,” she added.
The MMC Chairperson replied to a firm ‘No’ when asked whether there’s any possibility of the Margao Municipality opening the Sonsodo doors for waste coming from Salcete’s countryside. “As it is, the Margao Municipality has not been able to overcome the problems relating to waste segregation. Unless we solve the city’s waste issue first, we cannot even think of opening the Sonsodo doors for outside waste,” she added.
