Even as the Sonsodo dump undergoes a green transformation with tree plantations, questions persist over the delay in setting up a waste treatment plant.
MARGAO
They came, planted trees and went back promising to turn the Sonsodo legacy dump into a thriving green space.
Both Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane, who also holds the Urban Development portfolio, and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, however, uttered no word and made no reference to the fate of the proposed Sonsodo waste treatment plant to treat waste generated in the commercial capital.
For, the decades-old Sonsodo legacy dump has been cleared by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) under close monitoring by the High Court in the Public Interest Litigation petition filed by Citizens For Sonsodo through its secretary Roque Mascarenhas.
Indeed, while Thursday saw the launch of the urban forestry project at Sonsodo, the fate of the 15 TPD bio-methanation plant remains unknown. In fact, it’s now over a year and two months since the High Court disposed of the PIL in March 2024 with a direction to the government to convene a meeting of the Chief Minister-headed High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) and take a call on the setting up of the 15 TPD bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo.
However, the HPCC has yet to meet on Sonsodo, and the daily waste generated in the commercial capital is transported to the Cacora waste management plant for treatment, costing lakhs of rupees every month.
That’s not all. The GWMC had recently dashed off a letter to the Margao Municipal Council, reminding the civic body of its submission made before the High Court for setting up the bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo. In the letter, the GWMC further reminded that the Corporation has completed remediation of the old legacy waste at Sonsodo.
“Presently, the wet waste generated by MMC is transported and treated at the solid waste management facility at Cacora, which is an interim arrangement until MMC has its own wet waste treatment facility. The MMC shall take the decision on setting up bio-methanation at Sonsodo and accordingly file an affidavit before the High Court in the matter of PIL WP 45/2019,” the GWMC letter stated.
Indeed, questions are being raised as to whether the Sonsodo legacy dump has been cleared by spending crores of rupees to turn the area into an urban forest or to set up a waste treatment plant to treat the city’s daily waste.
“Certainly, the Sonsodo legacy dump was cleared by the government after spending crores of rupees to reclaim the land and put it to effective use for garbage management. It’s indeed a matter of surprise that no one is talking about a waste treatment plant at Sonsodo for reasons best known to the powers that be,” remarked a senior official.
