the goan I network
MARGAO
The Ma3rgao Municipal Council on Sunday finally cleared the waste rejects from the Fomento Waste treatment plant, but one question that has come to haunt the city fathers, babus and Madgavkars is simple “ will the Margao civic body pass the test of handing over segregated waste to the waste treatment plant from Monday?
This question comes against the backdrop of MMC’s failure to clear a similar test on Monday last, when the civic body’s fleet of waste-laden trucks was denied entry into the waste treatment plant for bringing in tons of mixed waste.
MMC officials are keeping their fingers crossed on whether they will be in a position to hand over segregated waste to the treatment plant.
“As far as possible, the civic body will go all out to hand over segregated waste to the waste treatment plant from Monday. The contractor engaged in the door-to-door waste collection in Fatorda area has been told to ensure that only segregated waste is collected from the households,” informed Margao Municipal engineer, Agostinho Mesquita
In-charge of solid waste management, Mesquita made it clear that the Margao Municipal Council will not accept mixed waste from the households located in both Margao and Fatorda from Monday onwards.
“The Council has taken a clear decision that the MMC workers as well as the contractor will not collect mixed waste from the city households form Monday. Let me make it clear that under no circumstances will we accept mixed waste from the citizens,” he said.
MMC officials in the know, however, said notwithstanding the slew of measures the civic body has initiated to collect segregated waste, the Municipality is indeed facing a daunting task of providing segregated waste to the treatment plant
The reason is simple. While the segregation of waste at the doorsteps of the waste generators is still a far cry, the situation is further aggravated by the black spots playing host to mixed waste finding its way into the city from the neighbouring
villages.
Sources pointed out that the Civic body has come out with a strategy to tackle this problem “ whatever segregated waste is collected from the households will go to the treatment plant, while the mixed waste will be dumped on the existing dump as a short term measure before waste segregation catches up with the people.
Indeed, the Margao Municipal Council has few options at its disposal on handing segregated waste to the plant.
Fomento officials, on Sunday, maintained that the waste treatment plant will only accept segregated waste from the Civic
body.
Fomento representatives Sudin Pai Raiturkar informed that Fomento has made it clear to the MMC that only segregated will be accepted at the plant. “We stand by our decision that no mixed waste will be accepted at Sonsodo. We did not accept any waste at our treatment plant for the reason that the plant was choked with waste rejects. Now, since the plant has been cleared of the waste rejects, we will throw open the plant doors, but only for segregated waste,” he added.
