MARGAO
Who is to be blamed over the failure to treat the daily wet waste generated in the commercial capital “ the Margao Municipal Council, the government and its agencies or simply the lack of will to address the Sonsodo imbroglio?
Well, hopes were raised around a year ago post-visit by Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate to Sonsodo, wherein he promised to draft the Goa Waste Management Corporation to handle the city’s garbage disposal management.
In line with the minister’s road map unveiled at Sonsodo, the Goa Waste Management Corporation prepared the estimates to refurbish the Sonsodo waste management shed and to rope in a private contractor to handle the wet waste while the two 25TPD bio-digesters take shape at Sonsodo.
The estimates were sent to the civic body to obtain government’s administrative approval for the projects, running into a couple of crores, before the projects are tendered and the bidders awarded the work.
Incidentally, the Margao Municipality gave its nod for the GWMC’s proposals and armed with the requisite Council resolutions, forwarded the proposals to the government for administrative nod. If officials are to be believed, the proposals are still stuck up with the government since the last five months as a result of which neither the GWMC nor the MMC could float tenders to execute the proposal to rope in a contractor to treat the daily waste and to refurbish the shed.
In the meantime, the Council has started the work of construction of a leachate tank at Sonsodo, repair the Sonsodo approach road and repair the damaged walls of the waste management shed at a cost of around Rs 27 lakhs. Sadly, treatment of day-to-day wet waste generated in the city is still a far cry with the proposal hitting hit a block for reasons best known to the government.
