MARGAO
The Sonsodo waste management shed has been finally cleared of the piled-up waste by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) and the shed was handed over to the Margao Municipal Council.
This is the third time in the last three years that the GWMC has cleared the Sonsodo waste management shed of the piled-up waste with taxpayers' money running into crores of rupees. While the GWMC has handed over the shed free of waste to the MMC, the civic body has a task cut out -- Will the MMC utilize the Sonsodo shed to process the daily waste generated in the commercial capital or take a call on how to go about utilizing the imposing structure?
Well, at the time of handing over the shed to the MMC, the GWMC Managing Director Levinson Martins made it clear to the Margao Municipal Chief Officer that the shed may be utilised for day-to-day waste management at Sonsodo. Martins further suggested to the MMC that the machinery inside the shed such as the overhead crane, grabber feeding trommels and damaged screening mesh of trommels may be repaired and put into operation for treatment of daily fresh wet waste of approximately 12-15 tonnes received at Sonosdo by windrows composting.
Given that the MMC has been dragging its feet in unveiling a road map at Sonsodo given the daily waste being transported to the Cacora waste treatment plant, the GWMC MD reminded the MMC that the wet waste transported and treated at the Cacora SWMF is purely temporary arrangement till capacity exists there.
The GWMC’s suggestion to repair the shed and the waste management equipment seemed to have so far found no takers in the corridors of the civic body. This became evident at the recently held Margao Municipal Council meeting when Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar pointed out that carrying out repairs to the Sonsodo waste management shed and the equipment may cost the civic body a whopping Rs 2-3 crore, saying the council can ill-afford to spend the money when the city wet waste is being transported to the Cacora plant and that the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) is being requested to shortlist the right waste treatment plant technology at Sonsodo.
A glance at the GWMC letter written to the MMC by the MD Martins states that the mixed waste staked inside the Sonsodo shed has been carted out and the same is being remediated on the land recovered after the remediation of the old legacy dump. “The shed is fully cleared from dumped waste and is hereby handed over to Margao Municipal Council,” Martins stated in the letter.
Martins said the MMC should find ways of utilising the Sonsodo waste management shed for garbage treatment. “This is the third time in the last three years that the GWMC has cleared the waste stored inside the shed for want of treatment. The MMC should see that the shed is no longer used to store waste, but utilise the facility for treatment,” he added.
