MARGAO
Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) notice on the 5TPD bio-methanation plant at the SGPDA market has thrown up a host of questions for the Pollution Control Board as well as the Margao Municipal Council to answer.
One, leave alone obtaining the Consent to operate from the GSPCB, did the Margao Civic body in the first place apply to the Pollution Control Board for the Consent to establish the bio-methanation plant at the SGPDA market. This question may be redundant now considering that the Bio-methanation plant was inaugurated around two years ago in November 2021 and is in operation since then.
Secondly, the question whether the MMC had applied to the GSPCB to issue Consent to operate and whether the GSPCB had delayed in issuing the consent has come to the fore with the Pollution Control board itself has now stating there’s no consent to operate the plant.
MMC officials say the civic body had in the recent past applied to the GSPCB to issue the consent to operate the bio-methanation plant, but pushed the ball in the court of the Pollution Control Board for the delay in issuing the consent.
A two-member team of MMC officials comprising of engineers on Wednesday visited the GSPCB to find out the delay in issuing the consent to operate the bio-methanation plant till date. MMC sources, however, remained tightlipped on the outcome of the meeting with the GSPCB officials, only saying that things will soon fall in place.
The MMC, however, have another major query to answer “ how and where is the Civic body disposing off the slurry generated at the bio-methanation plant, when the GSPCB during the inspection carried out in June last had found the slurry finding its way into the adjoining fields. A similar charge was leveled by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Monday, saying the slurry from the bio-methanation plant is discharged in the open, devastating the adjoining fields.
Last month, the MMC had found itself in a tight spot after the PWD, sewerage had stopped accepting the slurry generated by the bio-methanation plant at the Sirvodem Sewage Treatment plant (STP). That’s not all. A similar move by the MMC to transport the slurry to the Vasco Sewage treatment plant (STP) had also come a cropper after the PWD officials refused to accept the slurry at the STP.
This has thrown up a question for the MMC to answer “ how and where did the MMC dispose of the slurry generated at the Bio-methanation plant for the last one month.
A MMC official in private said the Civic body had roped in a private contractor to dispose of the slurry. One question that has remained unanswered is where exactly did the private contractor dispose of the slurry at the PWD-run STPs in the state or elsewhere. In its report, the GSPCB had pointed out that the bio-methanation waste handles could produce the receipts issued by the STP, Sirvodem up to the period of September 2022, indicating the MMC has no proof to say that they slurry was being discharged at the PWD-operated STPs.
Incidentally, an audit conduct on the bio-methanation plant last year had stated that the plant operator is struggling for the disposal of the digested slurry.
“There is no mechanism established for measuring the incoming waste and for maintaining the required ratio of the waste/ water. Further, the power generation engine is not connected to the GRID/GED. Presently, power generated is partly utilised for self-consumption only and the power generating unit is operated on neutral load,” the audit had stated.
