Mapusa’s waste management holds up, but for how long?

MAPUSA
Mapusa may be keeping its streets free of garbage despite the Goa Waste Management Corporation’s (GWMC) 25-day restriction on waste deliveries to the Saligao treatment plant, but the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) admits that the arrangement could come under strain if the disruption continues beyond a month.
With the civic body currently managing waste disposal through its own resources, officials say the situation remains under control. However, a prolonged stoppage could expose the limits of Mapusa’s capacity to handle its daily waste independently.
“We have the resources to safely manage waste disposal for a month or so. If we are asked to continue in the same manner for the next two or three months, then we will have a problem at hand,” Municipal Engineer I, Augustino Misquita, said.
Disposal challenge
The immediate challenge for the MMC is not collection but the disposal of waste, following GWMC’s directive preventing several local bodies from sending their garbage to the Saligao solid waste treatment plant for 25 days. The MMC is presently treating its wet waste through windrow composting at the Cunchelim site. Its dry waste, amounting to around 12 to 13 tonnes daily, is sorted and baled at the same facility before being transported to cement factories for use in their operations.
Misquita said waste management in Mapusa had continued without major disruption, with no complaints of roadside garbage accumulation reported so far. “There are no complaints and no roadside pile-up of waste noticed,” he said.
The ground situation appears to broadly support the municipality’s assessment, with former councillors acknowledging that door-to-door garbage collection has remained largely satisfactory despite a few shortcomings.