10 Jul 2018 | 04:59am IST
Waste Not in Our Backyard…
The villagers of St Inez have gotten into the act of getting tough on those who litter and have requested those passing through to refrain from dumping their garbage on the road
Located barely few kilometers away from the capital city, the St Cruz and Merces village panchayats are trying hard to keep their villages clean; while wondering how to convince the commuters, passing through their villages, not to dump garbage in their backyard.
Acting tough on those who litter the Merces Panchayat had resolved to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on those found dumping garbage within their jurisdiction, now St Cruz villagers are also contemplating a similar move.
Merces panchayat is facing the wrath of High Court for failing to clean the construction debris along the road side. And this is a common scene this village faces. Both the villagers, who have launched door-to-door collection of waste, is finding it difficult to ensure that no waste is dumped in their areas by outsiders.
“Our village is clean and green. We have recently started a door to door collection of garbage, which comes to around one truck daily. But the problem that we are facing is dumping of waste along road side by the commuters. We have identified around four black spots,” Merces Panch member Prakash Naik said.
“This is something, we have no control over. We want to appeal to the people, travelling across, not to dump the waste on the roads. It can be kept in their own village collection centres,” Naik said.
He further said the panchayat has identified a garbage segregation site and is waiting for the approval of the government authorities to go ahead with the project. Currently, the waste generated is treated at Saligao treatment plant.
“We are planning to have segregation unit with composting pits. We have identified a site and have already sent a file for approvals from the government authorities. Earlier we had identified 2-3 sites which were rejected by the authorities. Unless we receive approvals, the project will not be taken forward,” he added.
As far as St Cruz areas is concerned, heaps of garbage and plastic waste can be seen dumped along the road side, with Panchayat blaming neghbouring villages and the commuters for dumping the waste. The village development committee formed by the panchayat have identified nearly 10-15 black spots, where garbage is been dumped regularly.
“This is one of the biggest problems that our panchayat is facing today. One can see the dumps of garbage along road side, which we are clearing on alternate basis. Despite that, people travelling, dumps the waste here,” Sarpanch Mariano Araujo said.
The panchayat area generates around 3.5 tons of garbage daily. “We send our waste to Saligao treatment facility since Tiswadi has no plant and we have no dumping ground,” Araujo said.
