MARGAO
Come rain or shine, the Margao Municipal Council performs a daily ritual without fail -- trucks laden with garbage, approximately 30-35 tonnes, leave the Sonsodo waste treatment plant every day, transporting the city’s garbage to the Cacora Waste Management Plant for treatment.
That’s how the A-Class civic body has been disposing of its daily wet waste generated in the commercial capital over the last couple of months. However, the daily exercise has come at a huge cost, bleeding the Margao municipal body of the funds which otherwise would have come in handy for development works.
Reason: The Margao Municipal Council has no independent waste treatment plant of its own to treat the daily waste pegged at around 30-35 tonnes. The 5TPD biomethanation plant has been grounded since the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) directed the MMC to shift the plant to Sonsodo within six months. And, the Margao council has no temporary plan in place to utilize the Sonsodo waste management shed for the treatment of its daily waste.
This ground reality has thrown up a moot question “ Does the Margao Municipal Council have any plan to treat the city’s waste and save funds running into the lakhs of rupees on the transportation of waste to Cacora, especially in the light of the directions and observations made by the High Court while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Citizens for Sonsodo through its secretary Roque Mascarenhas on March 12, 2024.
Pose this question to Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar and apt comes a reply -- the civic body, he says, has written a letter to the Chief Minister-headed High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) to take a call on the setting up of the proposed 15TPD biomethanation plant at Sonsodo.
Has the HPCC held any meeting since the High Court disposed of the PIL on March 12? This question assumes significance and comes against the background that it’s now two months and a half since the High Court had issued directions to the Margao Municipal Council vis-Ã -vis the proposed 15TPD biomethanation plant, but the HPCC meeting is yet to take place till date.
The High Court Bench comprising of Justice Mahesh Sonak and Justice Valmiki Menezes had in fact issued a clear direction on the 15TPD biomethanation plant at Sonsodo or making the 5TPD biomethanation plant operational. Interestingly, though the High Court has disposed of the PIL, the waste imbroglio will continue to remain under the court’s lens, evident by the fact that the High Court has directed the MMC to file a status report/affidavit on the biomethanation plants in the court by July 5, 2024.
The High Court’s directions came when Advocate General D Pangam, while making a reference to the setting up of the 15TPD biomethanation plant at Sonsodo or making the 5TPD biomethanation plant operational, submitted that the HPCC would soon meet to take a call on the issue.
That the High Court sounded a sense of urgency in the matter of setting up the 15TPD plant at Sonsodo became evident when the Bench made a categorical observation -- “We expect the HPCC to address these issues as soon as possible and issue necessary directions to the GWMC and the MMC.”
When 'The Goan' called up the MMC Chief Officer to shed light on the HPCC meeting, Sankhwalkar said, “The civic body has already written to the HPCCC headed by Chief Minster to call for a meeting. Maybe, the meeting could not take place given the intervening election code of conduct. We are waiting for the HPCC to convene the meeting.”
A senior civic official added, “We hope the HPCC would meet soon after June 4 when the election code of conduct is lifted after the Lok Sabha election results. For, the MMC is required to file an affidavit on Sonsodo by July 5.”
OTHER DIRECTIONS
Other directions issued by the High Court on March 12, 2024 while disposing of the PIL petition:
(i) The MMC will ensure that a new transformer will be installed at the Sonsodo site within three months; (ii) The GWMC must complete the construction of the sanitary landfill at the Sonsodo site within six months; (iii) The GWMC must complete the retaining wall construction along the plot boundary at Sonsodo as expeditiously as possible and, in any case, before 30.06.2024; (iv) The Sewerage and Infrastructural Corporation of Goa must complete the work to extend the sewerage line to Sonsodo within six months from today to facilitate the disposal of sewage and treated leachate; (v) The MMC, GMWC, and the Sewerage and Infrastructural Corporation of Goa must file compliance/status affidavits by 05.07.2024.
