Team Herald
PERNEM: Despite there being two foundation stone laying ceremonies and one inauguration ceremony in the past, the Pernem Garbage treatment plant is yet to start functioning.
This is the sad state of affairs even though it has been almost 10 years now, since the work of Pernem garbage treatment plant kicked off to its completion in 2013 and thereafter, a second foundation stone laid in the year 2016 for this project.
Hailed as a state of the art project, the project was aimed at solving the rising garbage problem of the entire Pernem taluka on priority and was also meant to convert the garbage into fuel and generate revenue in the process. However, instead of fulfilling its priorities, the municipal authorities have shown very little enthusiasm to get the plant operational and providing the public a first of its kind garbage treatment facility.
After spending 3.15 crore of tax payer’s money, the municipality has now received an electricity bill of Rs 20 to 30 lakhs for the last 7 years even though the project has never functioned. While the electricity bills for the project need to be cleared now; it is the electricity bill that has been one of the reasons why the project was kept inoperable since the municipality is not in a position to pay off such a huge bill.
From being a problem solver to becoming a major problem, there is the added issue of machinery at the site that has not been used since the time of the inauguration. These machines have not been serviced and due to rusting and other issues, are also not in an operable condition.
It is to be noted that the treatment plant has two units, an organic waste composter for wet waste and a shredding machine for the dry waste, which was inaugurated in 2013. To aid the project, the authorities laid another foundation stone for another project that would convert plastic waste into fuel in the same premises spread over area of 29,000sqmt on Pernem plateau.
Once the project starts operating, it will treat five tones of garbage in a day and further convert the garbage into fuel. The plant has capacity to treat 10 tones of plastic daily, generate 7 tones of furnace oil, three tones of met coke and 500 kg of wax which can be used for boilers and ships. Also it will save the transportation cost of 22,000 rupees, which is what it normally costs for transporting collected plastic to the neighboring areas.
The Goa State Urban Development Agency and Pernem Municipal Council entered into an agreement with M K Aromatics Ltd, a Tamil Nadu- based company to set up the garbage treatment plant and run the same on revenue sharing basis.
When Herald visited the site, it was found that the municipality has dumped tones of non-segregated garbage at the site. Around two tonnes of garbage is being dumped on a regular basis and around 5 tonnes is being collected on the weekly market day.
Pernem only receives 2 tonnes of garbage on a regular basis, it was also decided that the municipality will collect garbage from neighboring villages such as Morjim, Mandrem and others.
The people of Pernem had high expectations that the plant would help rid the garbage which seem to have fallen flat.
At present, the garbage affected areas in Pernem include Dhargal-Patradevi stretch of NH17 and its coastal belt. The panchayats in the taluka send the collected garbage to the Saligao treatment plant but the commissioning of this plant would have solved the garbage problem in the taluka.
When contacted, Pernem Municipal Council Chief Officer Mandar Naik said, “Since the machinery was lying as it is right from its inauguration, it has rusted and have stopped working. Hence they require major repair work. The project proposal has to be put up for grants to repair the machinery since the municipality is not in a situation to repair the machinery from municipal funds but now due to code of conduct the further process will start only after the elections.”
Speaking about the electricity bill issue, Naik added that they are in talks with the department engineer concerned to recheck the electricity bill amount and reduce the bill.
