SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
Civic bodies lack will to tackle garbage
Swachh Bharat Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management and to create Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages. Since India's independence in 1947, there have been three rural sanitation intervention attempts before the Swachh Bharat Mission: the Central Rural Sanitation Programme, the Total Sanitation Campaign, and the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan.
Recently waste dumped near the Margao municipal building caught fire and exposed how shabby the civic body was when it came to handling waste. Heaps of waste lie piled up near the doorsteps of the Margao municipal building. There are no words left to discuss the Sonsoddo garbage crisis anymore. Not a week passes without news highlighting Margao’s garbage woes.
Total 760 metric ton of waste is being produced on a daily basis in Goa. Under this waste, around 150 metric ton of non-recyclable waste is produced. For years, Goa has heard about the efforts made by the government to make the State garbage free. After beaches, temples and churches, Goa seems to have become popular across the world for its waste all over.
Goa is currently facing an unprecedented garbage menace despite the enormous efforts being put into getting the towns and villages in the State clean. Black spots with heaps of garbage at various locations across the State, and stinking streets and roads have become a common sight. For years it has been a common practice of a large number of people to fling garbage out of moving vehicles.
There could be various reasons for garbage being strewn around, but mainly it is still the absence of a heightened civic sense among the people and the lack of a proper garbage disposal system by the local governing body. Admittedly, the government does lack in proper garbage treatment practices, but it is the people who dump garbage in the open, and so it is the people who are responsible for this.
Newton Mendonca, Aldona
Solar energy must for industries
Solar panels should be installed on houses in Goa because there's lots of sunshine here. They will help residents to save money on electricity bills and it is useful when the power goes off. The cost of the rooftop solar subsidy will be shared between the state and central governments, providing applicants with a 50% discount on their eligibility.
Now in order to bolster generation of renewable energy, the government on Thursday revamped its subsidy scheme for rooftop solar installations. While the previous scheme was only for residential consumers, the revised scheme reportedly covers all segments, including residential, institutional, social, government, commercial, industrial, etc.
In industries, solar energy can be used to generate heat for a wide variety of industrial applications, including water desalination, enhanced oil recovery, food processing, chemical production, and mineral processing, among many others. Industrial solar power, therefore, is a way to reduce the peak loading of the grid and do away with high tariff rates for the peak hours.
Capturing and then exploiting the sun’s rays allows us to reduce our fossil fuel use without producing greenhouse gases and moves us towards energy self-sufficiency.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Putin's war warnings are frightening
This has reference to the report ‘Putin threatens the West of nuclear war’ (O Heraldo, March 1). The Russian president's repeated warnings of a full blown nuclear war against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, is frightening.
Today, the nuclear club seems to have expanded and the major powers seem to be itching to put their nuclear prowess into force. The point to note is that, the Russian president also points out to the West against deeper involvement in the war, that a nuclear war would mean ‘the destruction of our civilization’.
Why, then are we on the course to self annihilation? Why is the world bent on committing suicide? Why cannot we live in peace and harmony? Why rake up religious differences and spread hatred in the name of religion? Why do we fight for property inspite of the fact that we will not take an inch of it after we pass away from this earth? Why are we destroying the environment by our mindless acts of destroying forests? Yes, at the end of the day, we are all, in some way or the other responsible for destruction of life, destruction of civilization itself. Would better counsel prevail?
Melville X D'Souza, Mumbai
