Citizens slam Council decision, say it’s not a solution to waste management
MARGAO
As the garbage situation at Sonsodo is turning unmanageable with hardly any space left to accept fresh wet waste at the waste management shed, the Margao Municipal Council dispatched city wet waste to the Saligao waste treatment plant.
A truck loaded with wet waste left the Sonsodo waste management shed in the wee hours of Saturday to head to Saligao. The Margao Municipal Council has planned to send a couple of tons of waste to Saligao with the hope of creating space inside the Sonsodo waste management shed to accept fresh waste.
Officials of the Goa Waste Management Corporation has pointed out that the Corporation had given the approval to the MMC to transport Margao’s wet waste to the Saligao plant on the condition that the waste ought to be segregated. It was further pointed out that the Saligao plant will accept waste as per the situation, and not more than 10 tons of wet waste on a given day.
While Margao Municipal Council officials have justified the decision to transport the Sonsodo wet waste to Saligao in order to make space at the Sonsodo treatment plant for fresh wet waste generated in the commercial capital, citizens under the banner of Shadow Council for Margao have slammed the Council’s decision, saying the shifting of Margao waste to the Saligao waste treatment plant only goes to show the failure of the civic body in handling the daily waste.
SCM convenor Savio Coutinho said the MMC’s decision has exposed the civic body and the powers that be that no treatment of waste has taken place at the Sonsodo shed for the last several months. He said it is a shame that the name of the MMC on the truck transporting the city waste to Saligao has been painted to ensure that the truck reaches Saligao without being noticed by the public.
“The MMC has been only dumping the wet waste inside the Sonsodo waste without any treatment worth its name. The shifting of the waste to Saligao isn’t going to solve the Sonsodo imbroglio. The MMC has to start the waste treatment and not go on dumping the daily wet waste and deploy JCB to push the waste inside to create space,” he said.
Coutinho further pointed out that the MMC has already spent crores of rupees on carting out the piled waste from the Sonsodo shed twice in the last three years, adding that the civic body is once again bracing up to take up the exercise by spending tax payer’s money.
“Transportation of the Sonsodo waste is not a solution. The civic body may transport around 4-5 truckloads of wet waste to Sonsodo, but the City Fathers and powers that be should understand that around 12 truckloads of waste enters the Sonsodo shed every day,” he said.
He demanded to know the steps initiated by the Margao Municipality over the last three years to treat the daily wet waste at the Sonsodo shed.
The SCM has taken strong objections to the reported threat issued to the garbage truck drivers that they would face suspension if they do not drive the garbage laden trucks to Sonsodo. “These hapless drivers had only pointed out that the leachate had turned the Sonsodo shed platform unmotorable because of the slippery conditions. But, they have threatened the drivers with suspension if they dare question the condition inside the shed,” Coutinho said, demanding that the civic body immediately take steps to rid the Sonsodo shed and the approach road from leachate.
