MARGAO
The fire at the Sonsodo waste treatment plant has been capped by Margao Municipal workers, but the smoke billowing from the waste mound has sent a grim reminder that all isn’t well with MMC solid waste management and exposes the civic body’s slow pace of work to bring the plant back on track.
Consider this. It’s now exactly a month since the Margao Municipal Council adopted a resolution at its meeting on July 9 to rope in a private contractor via Expression of Interest (EoI) to take over the maintenance and upkeep of the waste treatment plant.
Sadly, the EoI has still not made it to the public domain, inviting prospective contractors to take charge of the daily running of the waste treatment plant. Inquiries by ‘The Goan’ has only revealed that the EoI papers have been put in place by the Municipal technical section after computing the estimates, considering the daily tonnage of waste coming into the plant.
The EoI papers, are however, lying in the office of the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA), awaiting administrative sanction before the Expression of Interest is floated to invite prospective bidders to take up the work.
If officials are to be believed, the actual process of inviting the prospective bidders will begin only after the DMA gives the nod for floating of the EoI and subsequently tendered. This process, sources said, is expected to consume time as per the mandatory tendering procedures, with officials saying it may take more than a month.
Sources said top MMC officials should follow up with the DMA office for administrative sanction to floating of EoI. Any delay will only cost the civic body dearly with the plant now witnessing recurring fires inside. “It’s now one month since the MMC had resolved to invite private players to run the plant for a year. The tender ought to have been floated by now given the urgency of the situation and the fact that no waste treatment worth its name is taking place inside the plant”, remarked an official.
That’s not all. MMC officials have warned that the entire process may go haywire if no bidder comes forward to take up waste treatment at Sonsodo. “This is exactly the reason why during the power point presentation, a suggestion was mooted to reassure prospective parties that they may get the first opportunity to set up the bio-methantion plants if they take up the work of daily waste treatment for the next one year”, remarked the official.
Incidentally, it’s now a year since Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) Managing Director Levinson Martins had suggested the Margao Municipality to float an EoI to engage a contractor to treat the daily wet waste coming into the plant. Martins had apparently made the suggestion after realizing that the MMC showed no dedication or commitment to tackle the Sonsodo imbroglio with all seriousness. City fathers and the babus virtually slept over the suggestion and woke up only when the plant was choked again with waste.
Rs 7-8 crore proposed for next one
year to bring back plant on track
MARGAO: Hazard a guess how much money would the Margao civic body spend on the Sonsodo waste treatment plant for the next one year?
A whopping Rs 7-8 crore under the Finance Commission is proposed to be utilized on the waste treatment plant for a year, just to put the plant back on the rails as a stop gap arrangement before the civic body embarks to find a permanent solution to the imbroglio.
‘The Goan’ understands that it may cost the civic body a whopping over Rs five crore to run the plant by a private party for a year. For, preliminary estimates prepared by the civic body have pegged the total expenses on treating the daily waste to around Rs 5.6 crore. Take note, this is just the estimates prepared by the civic body and one would have to wait to know what the contractor has to say on the figure.
That’s not all. To facilitate the private contractor to handle the daily garbage, the treatment plants need to be rid of the accumulated waste inside. Rough estimates have put the quantum of waste inside the plant to around 7000 tonnes. Going by the calculations, the civic body may have to spend a whopping Rs 1.60 crore on the work of carting away the accumulate waste and get it remediated.
It is not out of place to mention here that the civic body is required to pay a contractor an amount of Rs 84 lakh for carting away and remediating the waste lying inside the plant last year.
Besides the major expenses on these two heads, the MMC has also proposed to purchase a new JCB machine and a fork lift, which together is expected to cost the civic body Rs 30-40 lakh, sources informed.
