MAPUSA
Goa’s implementation of the new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 has begun to take shape on the ground, with Mormugao Municipal Council becoming the first of the State’s 13 municipalities to introduce four-way door-to-door collection of waste, while Mapusa Municipal Council is set to follow suit.
Under the new rules, which came into force on April 1, 2026, waste generators are required to segregate waste at source into four streams – wet, dry, sanitary and special-care waste. The local bodies are required to ensure door-to-door collection of the segregated waste from households, commercial establishments, institutions, housing complexes and other premises.
Mormugao has already been implementing the system for the past two months, according to Municipal Engineer Augustino Misquita.
“We have begun collecting door-to-door segregated waste in four ways two months back in Mormugao council,” Misquita said.
The four streams are to be kept in green, blue, red and black bins respectively. Green is meant for wet or biodegradable waste such as kitchen waste, food scraps, vegetable and fruit peels; blue for dry and recyclable material such as paper, plastic, metal, glass and rubber; red for sanitary waste; and black for special-care waste requiring separate handling, including items such as batteries, expired medicines, bulbs and other household hazardous material.
Mapusa is now preparing to introduce the same system. “Very soon we are going to start collecting waste four-way in Mapusa too,” said Misquita, who holds the additional charge of Municipal Engineer of Mapusa Municipal Council. The rollout in Mapusa would mark the next significant step in bringing Goa’s urban local bodies in line with the new waste-management regime. At present, Mormugao is understood to be the only municipality in the State to have actually begun four-way door-to-door collection. “The Corporation of the City of Panaji is well ahead in garbage collection and is among the better-performing civic bodies in the country,” Misquita said. However, the rural sector is yet to make the transition.
Director of Panchayats Dashrath Redkar said the Directorate would shortly issue directions to panchayats across the State to begin collection in accordance with the new rules. The 2026 rules apply to both urban and rural local bodies and place greater emphasis on source segregation, scientific processing, accountability and the circular economy. They also introduce stronger provisions relating to bulk waste generators and environmental compensation for non-compliance.
The State government has also said that four-way segregation is a key focus of the State’s implementation strategy, with green for wet, blue for dry, red for sanitary and black for special-care waste.
With the new rules now in force for six months, the experience of Mormugao is likely to provide a ground-level template for other municipalities and panchayats as Goa moves from the traditional wet-and-dry segregation system to the mandatory four-stream model.
