MARGAO
Guess what Margao Municipal Council's agenda on waste management is when the commercial capital generates around 30-odd tonnes of wet garbage, besides 15 tonnes of dry waste daily? Has the government any plan to support the A-class civic body in setting up a facility to treat the daily waste generated in the city? Or, is the Margao civic body or the government content with the existing arrangement of transporting the waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant for treatment?
These and other questions have indeed come to the fore with the waste generated in the city, both wet and dry, now finding its way to the Cacora waste management. Take note, the MMC had been transporting the wet waste to the Cacora plant for treatment upon directions of the High Court for the last few months, at a whopping cost of Rs 15 lakh per month.
Since last week, dry waste has also been transported to Cacora after dry waste piled up at the Sonsodo waste dump for want of baling strips to bale the dry waste. According to civic officials, it would cost the municipality around Rs five lakh per month, to transport the dry waste from Margao to Cacora.
Civic officials remain tight-lipped on whether the ongoing exercise of transporting the wet and dry waste is just a temporary measure, pending the setting up of an independent garbage treatment plant at Sonsodo. In fact, a senior official contended that what is important is the fact that the waste generated in the city, both wet and dry, is being treated daily at the Cacora waste treatment plant.
“It is for the city fathers and the government to take a call on whether the civic body should have its own waste treatment plant. Presently, we see to it that there is no untreated waste left at Sonsodo,” the official said.
High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC)
While disposing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Citizens for Sonsodo on April 12, 2024, the High Court noted the submission made by the Advocate General that the Chief Minister-headed High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) would meet and take a decision on establishing a 15-tonne bio-methanation plant at Sonsodo.
It’s almost five months now since the High Court disposed of the PIL, but the HPCC is yet to meet till date to take a call on Sonsodo, throwing up a simple question “ whether the government is content with the Margao waste heading to Cacora for treatment?
For, the much-awaited HPCC meeting is yet to take place and municipal babus say the civic body has already written to the panel on the matter of convening a meeting to decide the issue of waste management. Against this backdrop, it is not out of place to mention here that the MMC has already missed the July 5 deadline set by the High Court to file a status report on Sonsodo.
Sources say the government is reportedly content with the fact that garbage from Margao is treated daily at the Cacora plant, notwithstanding the fact that the Cacora plant has been primarily set up for the talukas of Quepem, Sanguem, Canacona and Dharbandora.
The government, however, is wary of announcing that Cacora will handle Margao’s waste for the simple reason that the government does not want to give any room for residents of Curchorem to indulge in politics over the treatment of Margao’s waste at the Cacora plant.
High Court’s directions on Sonsodo
Thanks to the High Court’s intervention coupled with the close monitoring of the situation, the Sonsodo waste management site has seen a gradual turnaround in the last year. The moot question, however, remains unanswered. What was the High Court’s intention to issue a host of directions to the MMC and the government agencies and get them implemented within a time frame “ was it to pave the way for the MMC to transport the city’s waste to the Cacora waste treatment plant or facilitate the civic body to set in motion the process wherein waste generated in the commercial capital is treated at Sosnodo itself?
This question assumes significance against the backdrop of the Margao Municipal Council transporting the wet and dry waste to the Cacora waste management plant for treatment. Sources in the know say the High Court intended to facilitate the MMC to set up garbage treatment facilities at Sonsodo as evident by a series of directions issued to the agencies over the last three years.
“Why would the High Court closely monitor the remediation of the Sosnodo legacy dump if the site is not utilized to set up a plant to treat the city’s waste? Why will the Court issue directions to tone up the power supply at Sonsodo with transformers or for that matter issue directions to strengthen the fire fighting mechanism at the waste treatment site”, sources questioned.
Sources added: “Going by the High Court’s series of directions, it is evident that the court was anxious that the stink at Sonsodo is capped and the place is used for waste treatment. Certainly, the court would not have got the MMC to spend crores of rupees to bring a turnaround at Sonsodo if it wanted the civic body to transport the city’s waste to the Cacora plant.”
