Team Herald
PANJIM: In a bid to ensure that the project does not face any legal battle on the environment front, Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has decided to go for prior Environmental Clearance (EC) from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) before going ahead with the proposed solid waste treatment facility (SWTF) at Bainguinim.
The facility intends to handle waste generated in Tiswadi taluka, which will be about 250 tonnes of garbage daily.
Speaking to Herald after a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Corporation director Michael Lobo said it was decided that GWMC will obtain prior EC from the Union Ministry and Consent to Establish under the Water and Air Acts from Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) before going ahead with the project.
“We would like to take all necessary precautions before tendering the project. We don’t want to face any litigation that could delay the project,” Lobo said.
He said that State needs an integrated garbage treatment plant. “We have wasted a lot of time but now with increasing waste generation, a proper treatment facility is the need of the hour,” he stated.
Lobo, who is the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, claimed that the project can be ready within one to one and half year once it is tendered. He said that the facility would be set up on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis in lines with the modernised solid waste treatment plant at Saligao.
“But the plant will be of bigger capacity that is 250 tonnes. We would like to treat the waste from five constituencies of Tiswadi,” he said.
The funds would be raised from the Union Ministry of Urban Development along with a contribution from the state under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) earlier this week decided to hand over 1.71 lakh sq mtrs of land at Bainguinim to GWMC to set up the garbage treatment facility. The land was acquired by CCP in 2009.
