MARGAO
Has there been any turnaround at Sonsodo on the garbage front after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant chaired the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) on May 22 to draw up an action plan to put Margao’s solid waste management back on track?
This question may come to haunt the Margao City Fathers and Babus as it would be a month now on Thursday since Sawant headed HPCC had its meeting to discuss the Sonsodo imbroglio after a long time. The question also assumes significance since the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) would be required to file an affidavit in the High Court on the status of garbage in about 20 days on July 10 to be precise.
Bio-methanation
For an answer, consider the minutes of the HPCC meeting held on May 22. Amongst the key decisions taken at the meeting was to set up a 15TPD bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo. The HPCC had given Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) the brief to undertake the work of setting up the plant as deposit work, with a direction to MMC to arrange and transfer funds for the purpose. GWMC officials said it will take time to plan and design the plant before preparing the estimates.
Saligao calling
The HPCC considered the plea of MMC to increase the quantity of transportation of wet waste from Margao to the Saligao waste treatment plant from 10 to 20 tonnes a day. A senior MMC official informed that MMC has now increased the transportation of Sonsodo waste from 10 to 15 tonnes a day.
Firefighting
In another decision, the HPCC told the MMC to put all necessary firefighting arrangements in place at Sonsodo on priority. MMC officials said that though it had floated a tender to put an effective firefighting mechanism in place, there have been no takers for the job.
Power connection
The HPCC further told MMC to work on the restoration of the electricity connection immediately at Sonsodo. An MMC official informed that the civic body had deposited around Rs 54 lakh with the Electricity Department to set up a power transformer at Sonsodo.
The temporary power connection has been restored days after MMC carried out baling of dry waste with the help of a generator. Incidentally, it’s now around two years since the power transformer and electrical gadgets were burnt down, but the same has not been restored till date.
Margao municipality bracing up to
seek more time to achieve targets
MARGAO
Hazard a guess what status will the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) file before the High Court on the Sonsodo imbroglio when the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) comes up for hearing on July 10?
Well, at the last date of the hearing, the MMC submitted an Action Plan to the High Court with the Court accepting it with an observation that there would be no more excuses from the civic body in achieving the set targets.
But, with MMC running behind schedule in achieving the set targets and the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) taking cognisance of the delays, the civic body is bracing up to seek an extension in the time limit due to various reasons beyond its control and practical difficulties in achieving the goals.
Sources in MMC informed that with the HPCC accepting its plea for an extension in the time limit, the civic body is now bracing up to file a reply in the High Court to undertake the completion of the garbage-related works in a time-bound manner.
Questions raised about MMC's plan to remediate piled-up Sonsodo waste
MARGAO
Even as the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has claimed that it has started transporting 15 tonnes of wet waste from Sonsodo to the Saligao treatment plant as per the HPCC decision, questions are being raised about whether the MMC has an Action Plan in place on how to remediate the piled-up waste inside the Sonsodo Waste Management shed pegged at around 10,000 metric tonnes.
If MMC officials are to be believed, it had knocked on the doors of Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) seeking approval to float a tender to cart out the piled waste and remediate the same at a cost of around Rs two crore.
The proposal, MMC officials said, has not found favour with GSUDA with the agency reportedly suggesting an alternate mechanism to handle the waste at a reduced cost.
Given the situation, MMC officials in private informed that the civic body would draw the attention of the High Court to the GSUDA decision, pointing out that though the municipality had given undertaken to float a tender to remediate the piled-up waste, the same has not found favour with GSUDA.
“As per the affidavit filed by MMC, it had approached the GSUDA seeking permission to float a tender for the remediation of the existing waste inside the shed. We have not received the GSUDA approval from and will convey the same to the High Court at the next hearing,” an official added.
