When the foundation stone for the long-awaited landfill site for the Sonsodo waste treatment plant was laid on December 1 last year with much fanfare by Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza in the presence of the smiling MLAs and City Fathers, many thought that work would finally commence on this crucial component of the solid waste management after being hit by a two-year delay. Inquiries by The Goan, however, has revealed that work on the landfill site is yet to get underway with the GSPCB declining to give consent to establish the landfill site on the plea that the MMC has failed to effectively segregate tons of waste finding its way at Sonsodo every day, reports Guilherme Almeida
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Plans to establish the landfill site at Sonsodo has gone totally haywire. In fact, work on the landfill site has hit a big block, notwithstanding the foundation stone laid by Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza in the presence of MLAs “ Digambar Kamat, Reginaldo Lourenco, Vijai Sardesai, Margao Municipal Council (MMC) Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudessai and the City Fathers on December 1.
Reason: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) is totally unhappy with the amount of unsegregated waste finding its way at the Sonsodo waste treatment plant every day. The GSPCB has expressed its concern that as high as 70 per cent of the waste presently treated at the Sonsodo plant finds its way into the open dump yard. The Goan understands that GSPCB Chairman Dr Jose Manuel Noronha has conveyed the Board’s refusal to renew the consent to establish the landfill site last week. Sources in the know said that Noronha has told the MMC chief in clear terms to first take up waste segregation at source to ensure that only bio-degradable waste finds its way at the treatment plant site after lifting away the dry and plastic waste.
When The Goan contacted Dr Noronha to shed light on the emerging development on the Sonsodo imbroglio, he confirmed that the Board has declined to accord the consent to establish the landfill site. “The Board has concluded that no purpose will be served with the construction of a landfill site unless the MMC lay stress on waste segregation. Just imagine a situation when as high as 70 per cent of the treated waste goes to the existing dump yard as rejects for want of waste segregation at source. This cannot be accepted. Otherwise, the proposed landfill site will reach saturation stage within months of its commissioning," he said.
He said the MMC has a task cut out to take up the waste segregation head on. “Ideally, the rejects should comprise only 10 per cent of the treated waste. The MMC should understand the working of solid waste management. The entire concept will collapse if the rejects turn out a whopping 70 per cent," he added.
The latest GSPCB’s fiat to the MMC has ensured one thing, that machinery mobilised for the landfill site construction has been withdrawn from the site. When The Goan contacted Fomento Green CEO Sridhar Kamat to throw light on the situation, he said that work would commence only after the Margao municipality receives the clearances from the GSPCB. "The question of permissions to commence work on the landfill site has to be addressed by the MMC and the GSPCB. But, we are all ready to take up the work on the project, expected to cost Rs 2 crore. We will start the work, moment the MMC obtains the consent to establish the landfill site," Sridhar said, adding that Fomento officials will call on MMC Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudessai after her return from Daman.
Officials in the corridors of the MMC, however, felt that withholding the consent to establish may take a toll on the landfill site. “Instead of withholding the consent to establish, the GSPCB should have allowed work on the landfill site on condition that the site is operated only after the waste segregation is put in place," remarked a senior official.
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Work on segregation, removal of Sonsodo waste yet to begin
A visit to the Sonsodo waste dumping yard has revealed that work on the segregation and removal of thousands of metric tons of existing waste is yet to begin till date. Inquiries by The Goan has further revealed that the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), which was appointed as the nodal agency to take up work of Sonsodo’s existing waste segregation and removal, has not yet tendered the work, estimated to cost around Rs 5 crore.
When The Goan called up GSUDA Member Secretary Elvis Gomes to throw light on the delay in taking up the work, he said the tender process is almost complete in all respects, adding that the tender will be floated within a week’s time.
Segregation and removal of the existing waste was recommended by the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) headed by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar after the Goa State Pollution Control Board and the local residents opposed capping of the Sonsodo site on the line of Gorai-Mumbai proposal.
