MARGAO
Blame it on mismanagement, negligence or otherwise, Sonsodo continues to bleed the Margao Municipal Council, with the civic body struggling to address the waste management issue at the city’s garbage dumping yard.
Even as the government has spent crores of rupees of taxpayer’s money on the remediation of the over half-a-century-old waste dump at Sonsodo, the Margao Municipal Council seemed grappling with waste management with no solution in sight.
Consider this. A month ago, the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) had prepared estimates to refurbish the Sonsodo shed after a portion of the wall gave way three-and-a-half months ago. The GWMC had pegged the estimated cost of refurbishing the shed to a whopping Rs 3.82 crore.
Another portion of the Sonsodo shed came crashing down last week, indicating that all is not well with the mega shed. Now, fresh estimates prepared by the GWMC have revealed that the entire shed refurbishment work will cost the Margao civic body a whopping Rs 4.23 crore. The latest estimate includes the cost of refurbishing the shed, besides fixing the issues relating to road and electrical fittings.
The Margao Municipal Council has already forwarded the estimates prepared by the GWMC to the government for approval. With the GWMC submitting fresh estimates on refurbishing the shed after the second incident of shed collapse, the revised estimate will be discussed by the civic body seeking administrative approval for the project.
Professionals of the Goa College of Engineering had called for razing down of the portion of the Sonsodo shed walls before they came down. The good news coming from the GCE team was that the shed structure is stable and need not be demolished along with the walls.
Civic body needs Rs 3 crore to engage private contractor to treat wet waste
MARGAO: Even as the civic body will have to spend funds amounting to Rs 4.23 crore from the 14th & 15th Finance Commission to refurbish the Sonsodo waste management shed, the Margao Municipality will have to arrange funds to the tune of around Rs three crore towards the cost of engaging a private contractor to treat the wet waste generated in the city.
The Goa Waste Management Corporation has prepared estimates for the day-to-day handling of the wet waste. The entire operation was estimated to cost the civic body around Rs 25.88 lakh per month, for the treatment of 30 TPD wet waste per day.
Add the cost of handling 30 TPD of wet waste at Sonsodo at the rate of Rs 25.88 per month for 12 months, and the total cost may work out to a whopping Rs three-odd crore. This cost will go up higher in the event of a delay in the setting up of the two 25TPD bio-digesters within a year and a half at Sonsodo as promised by Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate.
Incidentally, the GWMC has asked the MMC to make available an amount of Rs 1,03,52,160 equivalent to the treatment of waste for four months to ensure that the contractor appointed for the waste handling is not left high and dry over the issue of payments.
MMC may not pay for ongoing remediation of piled-up waste
MARGAO: Waste piled up inside the Sonsodo waste management plant, pegged at around 14,000 metric tonnes, is being remediated by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC).
A year ago, the MMC had footed the bill of remediating the piled-up waste amounting to Rs 85 lakh. The MMC may not foot the bill for the ongoing remediation of the piled-up waste, thanks to the decision of Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate that the GWMC will take up the work at its cost. Rough estimates pegged the cost of the ongoing remediation to around Rs three crore.
Municipality calculating cost of transporting garbage to Saligao
MARGAO: Hazard a guess how much will it cost the Margao Municipal Council to transport the 40 TPD wet waste from Margao to the Saligao waste treatment plant?
Well, the Margao civic body is in the process of calculating the cost of transportation to ferry Margao’s garbage to the Saligao plant for treatment. In the event, the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) accepts the request made by the civic body to transport the waste from Margao to Saligao, officials in the know informed that it will cost huge money.
Finally, roof of Sonsodo waste plant shed repaired
The Margao Municipal Council on Wednesday finally repaired the roof of the Sonsodo shed, an action that is believed to have cost the civic body a couple of lakhs.
MMC officials pointed out that the roof of the shed has been craving attention for the last two years after the sheets were blown away due to cyclonic winds. The roof has since been repaired, but not before the operation cost the civic body huge money.
JCB deployed to make space for daily waste
With no waste treatment taking place inside the Sonsodo waste management shed, the civic body has deployed a heavy-duty JCB on hire to lift the waste and make space for garbage the next day.
The JCB, sources said, is operating for around 4-5 hours a day at Sonsodo, at Rs 1,100 per hour. Rough estimates revealed that the JCB bill on average works out to Rs 4,000 per day.
Urban Development secretary, officials take stock of situation
MARGAO: Urban Development Secretary Ramesh Verma on Wednesday descended at Sonsodo with Margao Municipal Chief Officer Rohit Kadam and other officials to take stock of the waste management situation.
The visit by the Senior Officer in-charge of Urban Development comes against the backdrop of last week’s collapse of the Sonsodo waste management shed wall. The visit also comes against the backdrop of the High Court's directions to repair the shed and clear the mound of dry waste at Sonsodo.
Sources said the Urban Development Secretary told Chief Officer Kadam and the technical staff to take all steps to streamline the situation at Sonsodo and ensure that the waste is handled as per the guidelines.
Then Urban Development Secretary Tariq Thomas had last visited Sonsodo during the visit of Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserate to the site to take stock of the situation after taking charge of the portfolio.
