In an interesting development, the sub-committee on Sonsodo waste management headed by MLA Digambar Kamat on Thursday almost decided to abandon GSUDA’s project for bio-remediation of the existing dump and revive the capping proposal, before Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourneco had the meeting adjourned to facilitate an inspection of a similar dump at Saligao before taking a final call on whether the Sonsodo dump should be capped or segregated.
Delegation visits Saligao to inspect similar type of dump
the goan I network
MARGAO
After the adjournment of the meeting, both Reginaldo and Margao Municipal Chairperson Babita Angle along with MMC sanitary inspector Sanglekar headed to Saligao to inspect the existing dump yard which is being handled by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation.
Babita later told The Goan that she and Reginaldo would now place their after inspection of the Saligao dump before the sub-committee as and when it meets in a day or two, but hastened to add that the whole issue needs to be resolved after giving a deep thought to the pros and cons. She further said that if a Goan contractor could effectively handle the Saligao dump with the help of the department of Science and Technology, there’s no need for a consultant from Indore to take up the so called bio-remediation, a term which only raised doubts and suspicions in the civic body. Reginaldo, on the other hand, said he is impressed by the work carried out at Saligao, adding that he would impress upon the sub-committee to recommend to the government to take up similar work at Sonsodo at the earliest.
Earlier in the day, the sub-committee headed by Digambar Kamat met to discuss the issue of capping, commencement of work on the Sonsodo landfill site and door-to-door waste collection. The meeting was attended by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, MMC Chairperson, Chief Officer Y B Tawde, Fomento Greeen CEO Sridhar Kamat and other officials.
After much discussion on the issue of capping, the Margao MLA told the MMC sanitary inspector, Viraj Arabekar, who was noting down the minutes of the proceedings, to record that the meeting has resolved to review the bio-remediation project in view of the fact that the municipality cannot make available the land fillsite and after taking into consideration that the previous two reports had unearthed heavy metals in the dump.
However, before the meeting could conclude, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco made his presence felt and demanded that the proposal for bio-remediation should not be scrapped and suggested that a delegation visit Saligao and see for themselves how the existing dump has been effectively handled by GSIDC.
The Curtorim MLA also made a forceful plea for resolution of the Sonsodo problem saying that the burning issue affecting the people of the constituency has still not been capped till date.
Given the situation, Digambar announced adjournment of the meeting to facilitate the members to inspect the Saligao waste dump yard and come back before the panel with suggestions.
Digambar later told the media that Fomento Green has promised to commence work on the landfill site by the first week of October, adding that the company will be issued the necessary permissions within the time frame.
On the question of door-to-door waste collection, the Margao MLA said the MMC has already obtained the technical sanction for the project, and it will soon float the tender for the door-to-door waste collection.
