GWMC cancels tender citing lapsing bid validity; need for facility questioned with waste now treated at Cacora
The Sonsodo landfill site, which is at the heart of the debate regarding the need for its refurbishment and Margao's waste management plan.
Photo Credits: The Goan/File photo
MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council’s sanitary landfill site at Sonsodo is back in the news, but for a different reason.
For, the fate of the proposed construction, repair and refurbishment of the sanitary landfill at Sonsodo hangs in the balance. Reason: The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has sent a communiqué to the Margao Municipal Council on the decision taken to cancel the tender for the
"Construction/Repair & Refurbishment of Sanitary Landfill at Sonsoddo Margao" and to make a submission before the High Court in the matter of PIL WP 45/2019.
When Sonsodo had come under the lens of the High Court in the PIL filed by Citizens for Sonsodo, represented by its Secretary Roque Mascarenhas, the issue of the sanitary landfill site had come under sharp focus of the Court.
Accordingly, the GWMC had prepared estimates for the execution of the construction, repair and refurbishment of the Sonsodo sanitary landfill site, including the Corporation’s service charge at an amount of Rs 1.91 crore.
In this respect, the Margao Municipal Council had deposited an amount of Rs. One crore with GWMC towards the execution of the work. The GWMC has pointed out in the communiqué that the MMC was supposed to deposit the balance amount of Rs. 91,64,727 to facilitate the issuance of the work order to the successful bidder. The GWMC, however, has asserted the Corporation has not received any confirmation from the MMC to date.
GWMC Managing Director, Ankit Yadav, has now drawn the attention of the MMC to the matter that was placed before the GWMC Board of Directors in its 16th meeting held earlier this year on January 15, 2025, wherein it was approved to cancel the tender for "Construction/Repair & Refurbishment of Sanitary Landfill at Sonsoddo Margao" as the bid validity has lapsed.
The GWMC Managing Director has pushed the ball into the court of the Margao Municipal Council in respect of floating a fresh tender, saying a fresh tender will be floated by the Corporation only upon confirmation and after the Margao Municipal Council deposits the required amount with GWMC.
Debate over the requirement of a landfill
Questions are doing the rounds in the corridors of the Margao Municipal building as to whether the civic body should go for the construction, repair and refurbishment of the sanitary landfill site at Sonsodo. The reason is simple. With the Margao Municipal Council not treating even a kilogram of wet and dry waste at Sonsodo, and with the entire waste dispatched to the Cacora waste treatment plant for treatment, questions are indeed being raised as to whether there’s any need for a sanitary landfill site at Sonsodo.
A senior MMC official wondered whether the sanitary landfill site will be of any use and whether it is prudent to spend Rs 1.91 crore on the facility when waste generated in the commercial capital is sent to the Cacora plant for treatment and disposal. The official, however, said a landfill site may not be a dire necessity for the moment, adding that making a provision for a sanitary landfill site is not a bad thing considering future requirements.
In this context, the MMC administration has said the question of whether to spend Rs 1.91 crore on the sanitary landfill site or not will be placed before the Council meeting for the City Fathers to take a call.
Sonsodo sanitary landfill saga
Built by Fomento Green along with the Sonsodo waste management shed when the company was handling the city’s waste management, the sanitary landfill site was engulfed by a major fire in the year 2019, leaving the facility damaged.
An action plan presented by the GWMC to the MMC had then revealed that the geomembrane used on the top layer of the landfill had been completely torn off. It was further revealed that the layer of the liner had cracked at many points and become fragile due to its direct exposure to the atmosphere and heat. That’s not all. The sealing of the liner layer had worn out at many places and this seems damaged at the anchoring and corners, adding that the sealing and anchoring of the geomembrane and liners on the concrete walls of the landfill on the north and west sides seemed to be torn off and without appropriate lapping.
GWMC Action Plan further stated: “The lateral distribution system is seen with no proper levelling. The header pipe and lateral pipe levels are improper to have leachate drained out of the landfill area. The jointing of header pipes is not proper and was removed at several points, and the same is applicable to the jointing of header and lateral pipes. The end caps were not provided at the ends of the lateral distribution system. The perforations of the lateral pipes were not visible. The header pipeline was taken outside the landfill but its connection to the existing leachate collection chamber was not established.”
Incidentally, the landfill site, which was built to stack inert material, came in handy for the MMC to store tonnes of waste generated during the COVID-19 pandemic before the High Court issued directions to the civic body to immediately clear the waste from the sanitary landfill.
