Door-to-door waste collection lags as MMC struggles for overall cleanliness despite spending crores; Civic body to review coordination with other agencies
Cattle feast on the garbage lying outside the SGPDA retail market.
MARGAO
A national ranking at 296 position and second in Goa for Swachh Survekshan may throw up a host of questions in the corridors of the Margao Municipal Council and outside -- whether the Margao Municipality is on the right track on Swachhata when the civic body has been spending crores of rupees annually on garbage management and sanitation.
Or is the ranking unveiled at the Swachh Survekshan Awards a time for introspection for the city fathers and the municipal babus over the MMC’s position in the survey and take an overall review to make improvements, be it on garbage management, cleanliness or sanitation.
The Margao civic body has taken solace in the fact that it occupies the second ranking in the State amongst the civic bodies having more than one lakh population. At the same time, however, questions are raised about whether the MMC can claim success for its national ranking pegged at 296 at the all-India level.
A glance at the city report card for the municipality revealed that the civic body has put up a good show on door-to-door garbage collection, besides segregation of waste at source. The civic body may have a task cut out to get other agencies, including the agencies drafted to handle sanitation, besides the cleanliness of the markets to put their act together to tone up the system in place.
That the municipality scored a big zero on the cleanliness of water bodies should hopefully spur the civic body to coordinate with other agencies such as the Water Resources Department (WRD) to maintain the cleanliness of the water bodies.
Commenting on the ranking, Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar pointed out that the all-India and the State rankings show that things are improving on the garbage collection front in the city. “The civic body will take a review of the report card by holding a meeting with the agencies involved in door-to-door garbage collection as well as the agencies looking after the upkeep and maintenance of the public toilets. We will also call for a meeting with the WRD on how to go about the cleanliness of the water bodies,” he added.
Door-to-door garbage collection and segregation of waste at source
A glance at the city report card shows that Margao has achieved 84 per cent success in door-to-door waste collection, while it was 60 per cent in waste segregation at source.
Still, the question that remains unanswered is how the city could not come near the target of 100 per cent door-to-door waste collection when the MMC is spending Rs five-odd crores every year in engaging private agencies for the door-to-door waste collection. Which are the households and commercial establishments that have been left out in the door-to-door waste collection exercise which comprise the remaining 16 per cent?
Curiously, the report card showed 60 per cent segregation of waste at source when the private agencies are mandated to segregate the waste at source before it is transported to the Sonsodo waste dumping yard.
Cleanliness of market areas
With the civic body scoring 54 per cent on the cleanliness of market areas, the Margao municipality will have a task cut out to get agencies on board, including the South Goa Planning And Development Authority (SGPDA), which is operating the two major markets, Goa’s lone wholesale fish market and the PDA mega retail fish, vegetable, fruits and meat market.
Besides, civic officials in private conceded that there is scope for improvements in the city markets owned by the civic body, including the congested Gandhi market, the State’s major vegetable market.
Though the Margao municipality has claimed that it has been clearing the waste generated in the PDA retail market for the SGPDA, waste dumping along the market periphery is going on unabated in the absence of any coordinated action.
Cleanliness of water bodies
With the MMC scoring a big zero on the cleanliness of water bodies in the commercial capital, questions are raised about whether the matter falls in the domain of the civic body or the Water Resources department.
The MMC got the major storm water nallahs flowing in the city de-silted through the WRD as part of the pre-monsoon works, throwing up a moot question of whether the city nallahs will be cleaned and de-silted only once a year.
Take the case of the Kudchadkar storm water nallah flowing into the picturesque Salpem lake. The nallah is full of plastic bottles and dry waste. After a joint inspection by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), PWD along with petitioner Prof Antonio Alvares earlier this month, the Margao municipality deployed its workers to clear the plastic waste over the last two days ahead of the hearing of the PIL in the High Court.
A senior MMC official pointed out that the MMC will coordinate with the WRD on how to go about maintaining the city nallahs and water bodies around the year.
Waste generation vs processing and remediation of dump sites
The city survey report suggests the Margao municipality is struggling to ensure the treatment and processing of its waste as it has scored only 27 per cent on waste generation and processing in the city.
As far as the remediation of the dump sites is concerned, the MMC has scored just six per cent even as the Goa Waste Management Corporation has been engaged for the job of remediation at the Sonsodo legacy dump.
Cleanliness of public toilets
That the Margao municipality has scored only 50 per cent on the cleanliness of public toilets has only reinforced the perception that all isn’t well with public sanitation. A senior MMC official informed that since the civic body has engaged Sulabh International for the upkeep and maintenance of the public toilets, a major review meeting has been arranged with the agencies to tone up the cleanliness of the toilets.
