Cuncolim to have waste treatment plant soon
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MAY 5
There’s good news in store for the residents of Cuncolim. Even as the Commercial Capital is struggling to put a garbage treatment plant in place at Sonsodo, Cuncolim will be the second town in the State to have its own land fill site and a waste treatment plant later this month.
If Cuncolim MLA and Urban Development Minister Joaquim Alemao is to be believed, the plant in Cuncolim will be commissioned between May 20-25, adding that similar waste treatment plants are taking shape in other Municipal areas as well.
Briefing newsmen after inspection work at the plant at Cuncolim, Alemao said “a similar plant is running successfully in Bicholim. Cuncolim would be the second town to have a landfill site and plant. Another plant is taking shape at Sanquelim”.
The Urban Development Minister has expressed confidence that barring Mapusa and Curchorem – where the land acquisition process is still on – waste treatment plants will become a reality in the remaining Municipal councils before the next two years.
Saying that he has sanctioned funds for all the Municipal Councils to acquire land and set up the treatment plants. “In Quepem, the land fill site has started, while the process is on in other municipal areas”, he said, adding “before my tenure comes to an end, I will complete work on these plants at the earliest that all the towns have their own waste treatment plants”.
The Urban Development Minister said he has requested the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat to sanction funds for the village panchayat bodies to look after their own waste. “Panchayat waste is finding its way in the towns and cities. I want to stop that garbage from coming to the cities”, he said, and categorically stated that no waste from outside Cuncolim would be accepted at the garbage treatment plant in the town. “The waste treatment plants set up in the towns are exclusively meant for the waste generated within the city limits. There’s no scope for waste from villages to be treated by the towns”, he said, while requesting the Chief Minister to provide funds for the village Panchayat to set up their own waste treatment plants.
Meanwhile, the Urban Development Minister has asked the Margao Municipal Chairperson Devendra Desai to ensure that the area acquired for the waste treatment plant in Cuncolim be fenced with trees so that people can visit the area and see for themselves the success of the plant. “The entire area should look like a garden”, he added.
