MARGAO
Has the waste issue plaguing the South Goa Planning and Development Authority’s (SGPDA) mega retail market been resolved following the constitution of a 15-member panel by the South Goa District Collector at the instance of PWD Minister Digambar Kamat?
Far from it. The waste problem appears to be nowhere near a solution. In fact, the panel has not even conducted an inspection of the market since it was constituted on September 4.
The panel, headed by Margao Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ganesh Barve, has met only once. Significantly, key agencies such as the SGPDA and the Margao Municipal Council were conspicuous by their absence at the meeting. The Collector had given the panel a mandate to submit a consolidated report on the market within 15 days of conducting the inspection. The inspection, however, is yet to take place.
This raises a critical question: Will the 15-member panel serve any purpose when it has no statutory powers to act or enforce rules? And what was the need to constitute the panel when the authorities could have addressed the issue by invoking powers under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, more so when the Supreme Court-mandated taluka-level team has already been constituted to deal with waste management?
Meanwhile, PWD Minister Digambar Kamat’s instructions to the PWD to undertake soling and repair works at the market complex have begun in earnest. The waste and litter at the SGPDA parking lot have also subsided to some extent. However, the overall waste-management problem remains far from resolved.
A visit to the SGPDA mega retail market revealed that waste dumped along the periphery of the market remains untouched. Visitors are still greeted by mounds of garbage, with waste spilling over into adjoining fields.
The nature of the waste also indicates that there is little or no segregation of waste generated at the sprawling complex, which houses fish, vegetable, fruit and meat markets.
Several questions therefore remain unanswered. What was the need for a 15-member panel to examine the SGPDA’s waste-management issue when the committee has no statutory powers?
That is not all. The taluka-level committee, headed by the Margao Sub-Divisional Magistrate and constituted by the District Collector in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions on solid-waste management, had already inspected the market over a month ago.
This raises another question: what was the need for a separate 15-member panel when the market had already come under the scrutiny of the statutory taluka-level committee constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions?
“Will the taluka-level committee now have no role in identifying the waste dumps at the SGPDA market and reporting the matter on the designated portal? Or how will the District Collector proceed with the work mandated under the Supreme Court’s directions?” sources questioned.
