MARGAO: The newly-elected panchayat bodies in Salcete are already feeling the pressure to comply with the directions of the government and High Court (HC), in finding land for Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and biodigesters in their respective villages.
The village panchayat of Rachol was recently pulled up by the HC for failing to set up such MRFs despite multiple deadlines given to them.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
While Rachol Sarpanch Joseph Vaz submitted to the court that they will be able to set up the MRF soon, there are various issues that have been obstacles for the panchayats in completing these tasks.
From finding land that is acceptable to the public to set up the MRFs and biodigesters, to completing the technical process, be it getting bids for tenders or getting all the requisite NOCs, many panchayats have hit a roadblock and have been unable to go ahead.
At a recent meeting with all the Sarpanchas of Salcete and government representatives, these panchayats highlighted the difficulties they face.
For instance, the Rumdamol panchayat, which has set up its MRF in the village, is facing the burden of paying the Power department a bill of Rs 4 lakh. Incidentally, the neighbouring Davorlim panchayat recently toured the Rumdamol MRF facility as it seeks to set up its own. Elsewhere, the Sao Jose De Areal panchayat lamented that the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has a shed at the Nessai industrial estate for setting up the town’s MRFs, no such shed has been allotted to their panchayat even though the industrial estate falls in their village and has been responsible for waste generation.
Other villages like Colva also are dealing with waste generated from non-residents like tourists and want the Tourism department to be more involved.
There has been a major demand from the village panchayats across Nuvem constituency that such a decentralised garbage management system in each village or cluster of contiguous villages should be implemented, instead of the proposed 250 TDP waste treatment plant at Verna, which has been heavily opposed by them.
Incidentally, the Salcete Block Development Office (BDO) pointed out that most panchayats in Salcete take care of daily garbage collection and that some panchayats have set up garbage treatment facilities.
