MARGAO
September, 2023: When the High Court’s attention was drawn to the indiscriminate dumping of mixed waste near the Margao KTC bus stand, the Margao Municipal Council was left with no option than to get its act together not just to stop waste dumping, but clear the site of another Sonsodo in the making.
A year later, waste dumping has stopped on the GSUDA land near the Margao bus stand, but two waste dumps have surfaced in the neighbourhood “ the GSUDA land near the district Court complex and at the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) complex on the land acquired for the hockey ground.
No doubt, the daily wet and plastic waste generated in the commercial capital heads to Sonsodo, before the wet waste finds its way to the Cacora waste treatment plant. The GSUDA land near the district Court and the hockey ground site have become the favourite dumping place for mixed waste comprising of vegetable and green waste, trees, plastic, debris et al.
The indiscriminate dumping of mixed waste at these two sites has brought the Margao Municipal Council under the lens of citizens as the activity has thrown up a question or two for the City Fathers and the Civic babus to answer “ if the Municipality had stopped mixed waste dumping near the KTC bus stand after the activity came under the High Court scanner, why is the civic body silent on the waste dumping near the district court and near the SAG complex till date?
Questions are also raised why agencies such as the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) or for that matter the Health department have turned a blind eye to the blatant illegal disposal of mixed waste in the open.
Take note, it was the Margao Municipality that had shown the way by dumping “inert” from Sonsodo for land filling of the GSUDA land near the district Court building despite protests from city-based NGOs and activists that what is being actually filled up at the site was mixed waste under the guise of Sonsodo inert.
That was over a year ago. Things now seemed to have gone out of hand both at the GSUDA acquired land and SAG acquired land near the Ravindra bhavan. Indiscriminate dumping of mixed waste has been resorted to by the authorities, including the Margao Municipality, PWD and individuals making waste dumping free for all at these two sites.
A visit to the GSUDA land near the court complex revealed that trees cut down during the recent trimming of trees under the disaster management have all been dumped at the site.
Mixed waste dumped on the land has been capped with mud. The situation had prompted ex-MMC Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar to dash off a letter to the PWD, roads to stop dumping of tree logs, branches and other tree waste at the site to stop health hazard and public inconvenience.
The situation appears grim at the SAG land acquired for the hockey ground. This acquired land had come in handy for the government to play host to a makeshift bus stand during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the city for the Viksit Bharat rally earlier this year after undertaking land filling.
A visit to the site revealed that the place has virtually become a free for all waste dumping site, with all sorts of waste, from damaged sanitary ware, to plastic bags, debris finding its way at the dump, questions are raised why the Sports Authority of Goa or the MMC or the Police have not intervened till date to stop the illegal waste dumping.
