MAPUSA
Goa is generating more than 211 tonnes of hazardous waste every day from its industrial estates, but the government has no specific data on the quantity of waste generated by hotels and casinos – even as the State’s tourism industry continues to expand.
The gap has raised questions over how comprehensively Goa is tracking waste from some of its biggest commercial establishments, particularly hotels and casinos, which generate large volumes of food and other waste on a daily basis. An inventory study conducted by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has put the annual hazardous waste generation from the State’s industrial estates at 77,056.58 metric tonnes, equivalent to 211.1 tonnes a day.
But the same level of information is not available for hotels and casinos. Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate has stated that specific data relating to hotel and casino waste is not available with the GWMC. That means while the State has a quantified picture of the hazardous waste generated by industries, it does not have a consolidated figure for the waste generated by establishments that collectively cater to thousands of tourists and visitors every day.
The gap becomes more significant given the sheer scale of Goa’s tourism economy and the large quantities of food and other solid waste generated by hotels, resorts, restaurants and casinos. The government says such waste is covered under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Local bodies – municipalities, the Corporation and village panchayats – are responsible for primary door-to-door collection, with waste required to be collected in segregated form every day and transported to processing facilities for treatment and scientific disposal. But who is generating how much and where exactly it ends up remains less clear when it comes to hotels and casinos. There is another revealing aspect to the government’s response.
While industrial hazardous waste has a dedicated disposal mechanism, there are no private agencies registered with the GWMC specifically for collection of hotel/casino waste, the government has stated. For industrial hazardous waste, the Goa Industries Environment Management Association has established a Common Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility at Pissurlem, Sattari. The facility is operated by Ponda Envocare Ltd and is intended for scientific disposal of hazardous waste generated by industries. Nearly 106 industries in the State deposit their waste at the Common Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility at Pissurlem.
