MARGAO
Just 18 days to go for the High Court deadline to the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) to complete the Sonsodo legacy waste bio-remediation project on February 28, 2023, the question asked in city circles is simple – will Sonsodo be finally rid of the decades old legacy dump in the next 18 days?
The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) is confident of completing the bio-remediation work by February 28. What, however, has come as a worry is the delay in the transportation of the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and the inert generated during the bio-remediation work, which has acquired the shape of a mound at the legacy dump at Sonsodo.
At the last date of hearing of the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Citizens for Sonsodo through its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas on December 21 last, the GWMC had submitted to the High Court that the work of remediation of balance quantity of legacy waste (approximately 88296 m3) or such quantity of entire legacy waste there at the site will be positively cleared by February 28, 2023. In fact, February 28, 2023 is the time limit set for the GWMC for clearing of the entire legacy waste at Sonsodo in terms of the contract.
GWMC sources informed that the work on the remediation project is progressing as per schedule, with senior officials exuding confidence of completing the work of remediating the Sonsodo legacy dump in the next 18 days.
A visit to Sonsodo revealed that a couple of machines were engaged at the site for the remediation work. GWMC officials informed that work on the remediation has almost reached the final stage, adding that the work will be stopped when the legacy dump is cleared upto the road level.
The visit, however, also revealed the dark side of the project – mounds of plastic waste and inert that has taken shape at the site for want of transportation and disposal.
In fact, a good portion of the remediated site resembled a waste dump with the RDF and inert accumulating at Sonsodo for want of quick disposal.
When Margao MLA Digambar Kamat had a meeting with officials to review waste management at Sonsodo, he underscored the need to expedite the process of transportation of the RDF mound from the site. Kamat was of the opinion that the GWMC and the contractor should increase the number of vehicles transporting the RDF.
Officials, however, pointed out that transportation of the RDF to the cement factories in Karnataka is not an easy job considering the fact that the cement factories also accept RDF from other cities and towns. “We have no mechanism in the State to handle the RDF. Hence, we have been left with no option than to transport the RDF to the cement factories in neighbouring Karnataka,” remarked a GWMC official.
In fact, the GWMC official informed that though the contractor engaged by the agency is mandated to complete the bio-remediation work by February 28, 2023, the Corporation has time till December 2024 to clear/ transport the RDF from Sonsodo.
A Margao Municipal official pointed out that it should not happen that the decades old Sonsodo legacy dump is finally cleared by the month-end, but the eyesore remains for want of transportation and disposal of the RDF and inert from the site.
NGO Citizens for Sonsodo Secretary Roque Mascarenhas said the GWMC has given the timeline to the High Court to complete the exercise. “The agency has exuded confidence in the Court that the Sonsodo legacy dump will be cleared by February-end. We also hope that the RDF and inert mound is also carted away from Sonsodo at the earliest,” Roque said.
Even as the remediation work has almost reached the final stage, the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) has started work on the construction of a concrete retaining wall along the Margao-Curtorim road to secure the Sonsodo property admeasuring around 15,000 square metres.
