Waste stacked in gunny bags, besides tube lights dumped behind the Navelim Panchayat ghar. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Launched with much fanfare a couple of months ago, door-to-door dry waste collection by the Navelim Panchayat has thrown up a problem of sorts for the local body to handle - an eyesore right behind the panchayat building.
As the collected waste is stored within the compound behind the Panchayat Ghar and is lifted away every Friday, the dumping of the collected waste has indeed turned the area behind the Panchayat building not just an eye sore but a health hazard as well.
A member of the Garbage management committee Anastasio Carneiro told the media that the situation is turning from bad to worse with unsorted and unsegregated waste finding its way behind the Panchayat building under the door-to-door dry waste collection. “The Panchayat building is new and spacious while a health centre is under construction in front of the Panchayat building, while a mini-Sonsodo is emerging behind the building," Anastasio lamented.
He pointed out that pampers and diapers, besides broken tube lights are finding its way behind the Panchayat building since there’s no dedicated site with the panchayat body for waste segregation.
“It is high time the panchayat looks out for its own space admeasuring 200 sq mts. Even the Goa State Pollution Control Board has now changed the rules on garbage management vis-Ã -vis the area for segregation. The waste management committee had asked the panchayat to put a shed for segregation of waste, but in vain. Even the builders could be asked to earmark a small area in their respective housing societies to undertake waste segregation," he added.
When The Goan contacted Navelim Sarpanch Frank Fernandes to shed light on the waste storage behind the Panchayat Ghar, he said that the waste dumped there is regularly lifted away by the designated agencies. “The door-to-door waste collection only collects dry waste from the households. It may be true that pampers, diapers and tube lights also find its way in the waste," he said, but hastened to add that the panchayat has not been successful yet in having its own waste segregation site.
“We had approached the Water Resources Department to hand over a small site for the panchayat to take up waste segregation, but in vain. The WRD officials fear that the waste may find its way in the canal polluting the water," Frank said, while saying that the panchayat would continue its efforts to have a dedicated waste segregation site at the earliest.
