When 206 people, including 102 foreigners from 14 different countries, voice their concern over garbage in Mandrem, it appears that the local panchayat has not done enough to resolve the problem.
Not only have the 206 aggrieved people recently submitted a petition to the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, but many of them were even involved in a cleanliness drive in Mandrem earlier on March 22, much to the embarrassment of the Mandrem panchayat.
“The whole point of our letter to the chief minister is to force the panchayat to take action, because it is the panchayat’s responsibility to keep the streets clean. There are many like-minded foreigners equally disturbed by all unnecessary garbage on the streets,” said David Cleaver, a British national who is spearheading the cleanliness campaign in Mandrem.
Incidentally, Cleaver had submitted his first letter to the Mandrem Panchayat on March 10. “The reason I felt the need to go to a higher level with the second one was due to the lack of response from the panchayat after I sent the first one, exactly a month earlier,” said Cleaver.
An environmentalist and a social activist based in the State, Cleaver said the petition had been signed by people from 15 different countries, including India (104), UK (35), USA (17), Russia (11), Germany (8), Italy (7), Canada (7), France (6), Ireland (4), Nepal (4), Sweden (3), Finland (2), Denmark (2), Holland (1) and Estonia (1).
“Following the recent action by a group of foreigners in cleaning the streets of Mandrem, the local panchayat has now taken some steps to address the roadside garbage problem. However, the panchayat still has not done enough and there is a long way to go before the situation can be regarded as satisfactory,” said Cleaver.
“What is required in Mandrem…is concerted and sustained effort to tackle the ongoing garbage problem.”
“Specifically, each panchayat should ensure that a full-time team of street cleaners is put to work literally combing the roadsides and removing all the garbage. It has been noted that the attempt by the Panchayat contractors was not so thorough, with about 10-20 per cent of the garbage still remaining uncollected, even in areas which had supposedly been cleaned. This is, as is usual for Goa, someone doing half-a-job, with the minimum amount of effort and expenditure.”
“My enquiries have revealed that, surprisingly, Mandrem Panchayat does already have a Garbage Committee, although it is unclear whether that committee merely exists in name only.”
“However, as far as I can ascertain, Mandrem Panchayat does not have a garbage segregation plant, nor does it have a garbage dumping site within its jurisdiction. It is my understanding that these two requirements (together with an elected Garbage Committee) are the result of a High Court Order from a few years ago,” Cleaver added.
In their letter, Cleaver and other petitioners have put forth some ‘common-sense’ suggestions to tackle the garbage menace in Mandrem.
“Each panchayat should have one (or more) team of full-time street cleaners, either equipped with their own collection truck, or coordinating with the garbage collection truck allocated which already collects garbage from business premises.”
“To make the job of street cleaners easier, garbage bins should be placed at strategic points along roadsides. A good idea would be to place the bins where people generally already dump their garbage.”
“Collected roadside garbage should be taken somewhere for proper disposal. In the absence of a localised treatment plant, a neat solution would be to have all roadside garbage taken to the new processing plant at Pernem, which currently appears to be sitting idle due to total apathy by all parties concerned,” the petition states.
Cleaver emphasised that the ongoing problem of garbage cannot be solved “until door-to-door garbage collections are mandatory for every property, both private and business.”
On a parting note, Cleaver conveys a blunt message in his letter: ‘The Panchayat should bear in mind that if a group of determined foreigners can organise a street clean-up, it is also feasible that they could organise a peaceful demonstration, or morcha, as I believe you call it here, with the prime objective of bringing this matter to the attention of the international news media.’
