Goa is hailed as one of the highly educated states in India and Goans are known for their westernized lifestyle. But, unfortunately, we are yet to learn the basic lesson of disposing our garbage and sewage in a scientific manner. In fact, the increasing stench of cesspools of filth and putrefying garbage, with mix of recyclable material, plastic and perishable refuse all around, is severely disfiguring Goa’s once pristine landscape and devastating its environment.
Failure on the part of various civic authorities to dispose off garbage and sewage in an adequate and safe manner, is posing a major health hazard to the people of Goa, particularly to those living in the urban as well as semi-urban coastal areas of the State. For decades, sanitation in Goa has been treated like, well, a dirty word. Civic bodies, riddled with rampant corruption and inefficiency, have bloated work forces. Garbage disposal fleets operate to a third of their capacity and there is a total lack of motivation to tackle even the most basic sanitation needs of the State’s overcrowded urban as well as semi-urban areas. The rapid spread of unauthorized slums in already overcongested urban areas and the lack of civic sense among most of us, add to the growing mounts of filth and disease in the state.
Both, in urban as well as rural areas, there is a visible lack of civic sense among us. As a result, we have been witnessing garbage and filth strewn almost everywhere. It is our tendency to accept the filth as normal part of daily life that is responsible for our towns and villages remaining dirt-ridden all the time. Households do not dump garbage at the right places and the civic workers add to the problem by not collecting it regularly, thereby leaving it to rot and spread diseases.
Mere statistics, alarming as they are, do little to reflect the sanitation crisis and its collateral damage to the State’s health and environment. Consequently, Goa witnesses regular outbreaks of communicable diseases which take a toll of human life every year. The major causes are diarrhoea, diphtheria, TB, Tetanus, Measles and various viral infections, mostly on account of poor sanitary conditions.
Besides, during each monsoon, malaria, dengue, chikungunya and gastroenteritis are common ailments across the state. Stagnant water due to lack of adequate rain water drainage system and unhygienic conditions due to rotting garbage and filth lead to breeding of flies, mosquitoes, rats, etc. as a result, thousands of malaria and gastroenteritis cases have been reported in the State in the last few years.
In this circumstances, it is heartening to note that the Government of Goa has at last drawn up an elaborate plan to tackle the garbage menace in the State headon, as was envisioned and promised by former Chief Minister and now the Union Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar. As a first step, the government has set up a high level tank force (HLTF), to address the issues pertaining to solid waste management. Besides, a monitoring-cum-working committee (McWc) has also been set up to look into the implementation of various Acts and rules pertaining to solid waste management, and a Solid Waste Management cell has been appointed to execute all the decisions of the HLTF and the McWc.
As planned, the Government is setting up two solid waste management facilities at Calangute / Saligao in the North Goa and Cacora in South Goa. The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) has been entrusted with the task of project implementation, under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology which has been designed as the Nodal agency for the solid waste management in the state. With respect to the Calangute / Saligao plant, the work has commenced and approximately 10 per cent of the work has been executed on ground. For the Cacora plant, all formalities have been completed and the work is scheduled to commence shortly.
The State of Goa has 190 village panchayats, 13 Municipal councils and one Municipal corporation. The Monitoring-cum-Working committee has taken up the initiative of collection of non-biodegradable waste. Presently, 185 village panchayats, 12 municipal councils, one municipal corporation and several other organizations are handling over segregated non-biodegradable waste to the contractor appointed for internal collection of waste. The entire collection is being monitored by the Solid Waste Management Cell. The collected waste is baled at the material recovery facilities at Carapur-Sarvona in Bicholim and at Cacora Industrial estate. The waste is then sent to a cement company in Karnataka for scientific disposal through co-processing.
Since creation of awareness is extremely important for successful waste management, the government has launched awareness campaigns on solid waste management through print, audio and visual media. In addition, several meetings and interactive sessions have been conducted to brief the local representatives with various aspects pertaining to solid waste management and their roles and responsibilities.
Aware that educating children with respect to solid waste management is the need of the hour, the government has provided 94 schools in the state, with a set of four bins to inculcate the habit of segregation of waste at source. This pilot project has been successful and the same is going to be extended to all the remaining schools in the State. The Department of Education has been entrusted with the task of creating a curriculum and arranging for providing training to all schools with respect to solid waste management. The teachers from all the schools will be trained in the basics of solid waste management.
Cleaning of highways has been entrusted to the GSIDC and the cleaning of beaches is being taken up by the Department of Tourism through private contractors. All forest areas are being looked after by the Department of Forest and Environment, while the Department of Water Resources is in charge of the internal waterways. The Solid Waste Management Cell under the Department of Science and Technology has been entrusted with the task of preparation of Solid Waste Management Master Plan for the State of Goa.
The government has issued the Third Amendment to the Goa Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act of 1996 wherein segregation at source has been made mandatory along with inclusion of all owners and occupiers under the purview of the act. Fines for contravention of provisions of the Act have also been enhanced.
To fund the Solid Waste Management in the State, the government has levied a cess on all products marketed in non-biodegradable packaging material, vide the First and Second Amendment to the Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act of 1996 and Rules 1997. Also, a Green cess has been levied on products and Substances causing pollution. The funds thus generated will be utilized to fund the solid waste management project in the State.
The government believes that success of the implementation of these initiatives is depending entirely on the active participation of all stake-holders, including the civil society.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
