MARGAO
With the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) withdrawing from Sonsodo and the proposed Black Hole technology awaiting nod from expert agencies, the Margao Municipal Council is faced with the same old question of covering the Sonsodo dump yard to prevent leachate from flowing into the storm water nullah.
While the municipality will have to put in place a contingency plan to carry out the annual ritual with the avowed objective of preventing contamination of the ground water surrounding the dumping site as per the High Court order, questions are raised in the corridors of the civic body on the efficacy of the exercise, whether it serves the purpose or only ends up in enriching the contractors year after year.
The Margao municipality has spent close to half a crore on the annual covering of the Sonsodo dump yard ever since the High Court disposed off a petition after the civic body agreed to cover the site to prevent leachate from flowing into the storm water drains.
There’s one school of thought, which has questioned the rationale of covering the Sonsodo site with tarpaulin, on the ground that covering of the site has failed to stop the leachate from flowing into the drain. “We have seen that apart from last year, where the GSIDC contractor had covered Sonsodo with a membrane, covering of the site with ordinary quality tarpaulin sheets had failed to serve the desired purpose. More often than not, we had all come across the tarpaulin sheets left damaged within days due to the strong winds and heavy downpour, thus defeating the very purpose of covering the site,” remarked an official in the know.
When MMC Chairperson Babita Prabudesai was asked to throw light on the issue, she said the Chief Officer will be told to prepare a contingency plan to take care of the site. “Last year, the site was covered with a membrane by the GSIDC contractor after the entire site was handed over to the Corporation for bio-remediation. Right now, the Black Hole technology is awaiting nod from the expert agencies and if the technology is not adopted before the monsoons, the Margao municipality will have to take over the role of covering the Sonsodo site once again this year,” Babita added.
She pointed out that the civic body will put in place a plan of action so that the municipality is not caught unawares when monsoon begins.
It’s now over half-a-decade, around eight years to be precise, the Sonsodo site is being covered every year on the eve of the monsoon, with civic officials in the know putting the total amount of money spent on the site covering exercise to around Rs 50 lakh.
