MARGAO
But will the civic body rise to the challenge? This question has come to the fore with the civic body literally struggling with men and machinery to handle the current waste generation, pegged at around 60 metric tons per day.
A glance at the municipal project reports indicates that all is not well with the solid waste management system in place in the city. Though door-to-door waste collection is being carried out by the civic body, there's no proper segregation of waste at source, the rep
ort stated.
The report is categorical in stating there is no systematic mechanism of segregation of recyclable waste in the city. "Segregation of waste is not practiced at the source. However, some amount of waste is segregated at the MSW plant site. Waste segregation system was practiced during the commencement of the door-to-door collection when attempts were made to collect the dry and wet wastes separately," the report stated and mentioned that the system had failed for want of required manpower.
Bio-medical waste collection has also failed to meet the requirements. There are a total of 13 hospitals and nursing homes, including major hospitals, besides around 160 clinics and pathological labs, in the MMC jurisdiction, contributing 5 per cent of the total waste. While the report stated that bio-medical waste generated by hospitals and clinics is not collected by the MMC as it is saddled with the responsibility of collecting waste other than bio-medical waste. It is observed that most of the time the bio-medical waste is mixed with other waste, the report pointed out.
The report has also given insight into the waste dumping taking place in the city. "There are more than 25 open chronic points in the city and along the boundaries of the municipal council. These open points attract stray animals and create nuisance in the city. This makes the area appear like an open waste dumping point," the report stated.
The project report has come out clear stating that the mechanism of solid waste management system in Margao Municipal Council requires a reorganized model to meet the requirements as per the MSW rules 2016 with stress on improvement of the waste collection at source in a segregated manner and its transportation.
To improve the mechanism of waste collection at source and transportation, the report has mooted decentralized collection and transportation plan by classifying the city area into sector. It is proposed to bring in the private sector into the solid waste management processes on a long-term basis with performance based contracting to enable efficient management of the systems in a better way over a long period of time.
The report has called to beef up the manpower requirement to tackle solid waste management. While around 150 workers/waste collectors are presently employed for the work of waste collection, the report called for recruitment of 160 additional workers, besides 19 additional drivers, seven supervisors and three senior supervisors.
To strengthen the fleet of vehicles engaged in solid waste management, the report has called for procurement of eight additional garbage compactors, four dumpers and hoppers as against the existing four compactors, six dumpers and seven hoppers.
The report is categorical in stating there is no systematic mechanism of segregation of recyclable waste in the city. "Segregation of waste is not practiced at the source. However, some amount of waste is segregated at the MSW plant site. Waste segregation system was practiced during the commencement of the door-to-door collection when attempts were made to collect the dry and wet wastes separately," the report stated and mentioned that the system had failed for want of required manpower.
Bio-medical waste collection has also failed to meet the requirements. There are a total of 13 hospitals and nursing homes, including major hospitals, besides around 160 clinics and pathological labs, in the MMC jurisdiction, contributing 5 per cent of the total waste. While the report stated that bio-medical waste generated by hospitals and clinics is not collected by the MMC as it is saddled with the responsibility of collecting waste other than bio-medical waste. It is observed that most of the time the bio-medical waste is mixed with other waste, the report pointed out.
The report has also given insight into the waste dumping taking place in the city. "There are more than 25 open chronic points in the city and along the boundaries of the municipal council. These open points attract stray animals and create nuisance in the city. This makes the area appear like an open waste dumping point," the report stated.
The project report has come out clear stating that the mechanism of solid waste management system in Margao Municipal Council requires a reorganized model to meet the requirements as per the MSW rules 2016 with stress on improvement of the waste collection at source in a segregated manner and its transportation.
To improve the mechanism of waste collection at source and transportation, the report has mooted decentralized collection and transportation plan by classifying the city area into sector. It is proposed to bring in the private sector into the solid waste management processes on a long-term basis with performance based contracting to enable efficient management of the systems in a better way over a long period of time.
The report has called to beef up the manpower requirement to tackle solid waste management. While around 150 workers/waste collectors are presently employed for the work of waste collection, the report called for recruitment of 160 additional workers, besides 19 additional drivers, seven supervisors and three senior supervisors.
To strengthen the fleet of vehicles engaged in solid waste management, the report has called for procurement of eight additional garbage compactors, four dumpers and hoppers as against the existing four compactors, six dumpers and seven hoppers.
