PANAJI
The State through the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) will begin trading in carbon credits for all its waste management initiatives to earn revenue, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday even as he announced that the 100 tonnes per day solid waste management plant set up in Cacora will be officially commissioned in November.
Sawant, who chaired the board meeting of the GWMC, also inaugurated the newly developed website of the corporation.
Revenue Minister, Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, who also holds the Waste Management portfolio and by virtue of it is the vice-chairman of the GWMC BoD, also participated in the meeting and rooted for the speedy implementation of the proposed waste management plant at the controversial site in Bainguinim.
If and when the Bainguinim plant is executed, it will be the third major waste management facility set up by the GWMC after the one at Pilerne-Saligao and in Cacora.
The Bainguinim plant is being proposed to handle solid waste produced in Central Goa, mostly Tiswadi and a fourth plant is being proposed at Verna in the vicinity of the industrial estate there, which will cater to Mormugao taluka and some geographically contiguous parts of Salcete.
Meanwhile at the meeting, the GWMC BoD cleared the design for the cloth recycling station at Mormugao and the manned waste transfer station. The used cloth recycling station model involves distribution of recycled cloth bags in exchange for used and clean fabric.
In 2021, Sawant had created a new ministry of Waste Management and brought the GWMC under its administrative control. However, although the ‘waste management’ portfolio is separately allocated, the chief minister remains the GWMC chairman with the minister as its vice-chairman.
Solid waste management is a challenge several governments have fallen short in tackling with garbage collection on a day-to-day basis, particularly by panchayats in villages fast urbanising with gated complexes and large multi-storey housing projects proliferating.
The issue of solid waste management in villages is being adjudicated by the Bombay High Court at Goa which has mandated panchayats to set up material recovery facilities (MRF) in their jurisdictions which most of them are struggling to fulfill.
Several of these erring panchayats have even been threatened by the High Court of being held in ‘contempt of court’ but the local bodies continue to be confronted with the challenge of identifying suitable sites in the face of stiff opposition from residents opposition sites in their localities.
