PANAJI
Close on the heels of government gearing up to issue a fresh tender for the solid waste management plant at Bainguinim, the Old Goa panchayat has called for the project to be scrapped. They have warned that locals will launch an agitation if the government proceeds with the proposal.
Addressing media on Saturday, Old Goa Sarpanch Medha Parvatkar, along with other panch members and citizens, said opposition to the plant had been ongoing since 2002.
“We don’t want the plant. We have been opposing it since 2002. There is the world heritage site at Old Goa with its churches. There are temples and mutts, four schools, and a hospital. We fear that the plant will lead to pollution,” she said.
Panch Ambar Amonkar said that in the public hearings held for the proposal, more than 90% of the people had expressed their opposition to the plant.
“Kadamba plateau where the plant is proposed is the fast growing. The proposed site is at the top of the geological ecosystem. It will cause problems like water contamination, heritage destruction, and destruction of eco-sensitive zones. People living in the areas at the foot of the plateau will be affected,” he said.
Four-time panch member and former sarpanch Vinayak Fadte said that the site for the plant was being opposed even before he became a panch.
“It was not a residential area then, but despite this, the government itself got approvals for many housing projects. Now there are projects each consisting of 250–400 flats. The complexes are nearly touching the boundary of this plant site, with no buffer zone. Instead, the minister concerned should take the plant to a site in Taleigao which he had proposed earlier”, he said.
