FABIOLA D'SOUZA, Siolim
At the Sao Joao Boat Festival at Siolim, the Tourism Department and the agency entrusted with the operation of the DRS in Goa created awareness about the use of the system. Although the demo of the highly digital technology used for the collection of waste is welcome, how does it benefit the consumer? You pay a deposit at the shop and bring back the consumed packet or bottle to claim your own deposit, which is ridiculous. What about the profit margin from the sale of the scrap that the agency is going to make after it collects it? Local consumers would prefer to sell it to the scrap dealer and get some cash back. While the worst hit would be the tourists who buy and return without claiming the deposit, this amount will benefit someone else (migrant) or the local panchayat body.
The manufacturers, who are supposed to set up the scheme and appoint their own agency to clear the waste at their cost, are left to go scot-free, while the consumer is forced to buy the product and bear the cost, which is already levied in the village panchayat as garbage tax. Will the Govt. increase the returns to the consumer who segregates his waste and gets the rightful value of the scrap?
