MARGAO
Come August 29 and the Margao Municipal Council will file yet another status report in the High Court on the Sonsodo imbroglio, with focus on the host of works that have been set in motion as per the government’s order dated July 11 last.
Works underway at Sonsodo includes construction of roads and concrete platforms for treatment of waste, additional baling machines to handle the increasing dry waste et al. But, what next, is a question that may come to haunt the Margao Municipal Council and the powers that be over the civic body’s future plan to treat the 30 tonnes of wet waste generated in the commercial capital.
BURDEN ON CIVIC COFFERS
With the MMC presently transporting daily wet waste from Sonsodo to the Saligao plant, the civic body may have to grapple with another crucial question “ how long is the civic body going to transport the daily wet waste to the Saligao waste treatment plant as the exercise is expected to cost a bomb and drain the civic coffers? Or, is the civic body anticipating the government for a bail out on the vexed garbage treatment problem with an order to transport the daily wet waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant?
Pose these questions to the civic officials involved in handling Sonsodo and apt comes a reply that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) is in the process of preparing estimates to set up a 15TPD bio-digester at Sonsodo along with a 15TPD incinerator to take care of the dry waste.
Will 15TPD TAKE CARE OF CITY WASTE?
The moot question, however, remains unanswered “ will a 15TPD waste treatment plant be suffice to take care of 30TPD wet waste generated daily in the commercial capital? How would the civic body treat the balance 15TPD waste, and whether the MMC has any alternative plan to treat this balance waste?
MMC officials in private said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-headed High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) has sanctioned a 15TPD bio-digester for Margao when the generation of waste in the commercial capital on an average per day is around 30TPD. “We have no idea why the HPCC has sanctioned a 15TPD plant for Margao when the daily waste generation in the city is 30TPD. May be, the government has other plans up its sleeves to handle the balance waste,” remarked an official.
RESERVATIONS TO SHIFT WASTE TO CACORA
Incidentally, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral, who also holds the Environment portfolio has expressed his strong reservations to any plan to shift the Sonsodo waste to the Cacora plant located in his Curchorem constituency for treatment. In fact, Cabral has stressed on the need for the MMC to have its own independent waste treatment plant instead of drawing plans to send the city waste to Cacora.
STOP-GAP ARRANGEMENT
Time, however, seemed running out for the Margao Municipal Council. The civic body had on Friday roped in a contractor to transport Sonsodo wet waste to Saligao at a cost of Rs 18 lakh for the next 45 days. The crucial question that may come to haunt the civic body is what’s next after 45 days? Will the MMC put in place some sort of mechanism to treat waste at Sonsodo during this 45-day period, or whether the civic body will further extend the contract to transport the waste to Saligao beyond 45 days.
The writing on the wall, however, seemed clear for the Margao Municipality. With the tourism season set to commence by October and the shacks along the Bardez tourism belt expected to resume full-fledged operations, Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) officials in private say the earlier the civic body puts in place waste treatment mechanism at Sonsodo, the better for all the authorities. For, the 250TPD Saligao plant is presently treating 240TPD waste, including the 27-28TPD waste coming from Sonsodo.
“Transportation of waste from Sonsodo to Saligao is a purely temporary arrangement worked out since the Sonsodo waste management shed is full with waste and no place for treatment. The ball lies in the MMC’s court how the civic body intends to go about resolving the issue, which has come under the High Court lens,” remarked a GWMC official.
