Expressing its total unhappiness with the village panchayat for not complying with the Rural Garbage disposal scheme and the directions issued by the High Court, Goa State Pollution Control Board has withdrawn its letter dated December 11, 2013 to the panchayat body regarding satisfactory compliance of the scheme and the court directions. This follows an inspection carried out by the Board on June 11 last which virtually exposed the panchayat on its activities vis-a-vis solid waste management. During the inspection, the Board has observed that appropriate site for storage of non-biodegradable waste was not put in place and that the panchayat was found wanting in establishing adequate composting facility for disposal of organic bio-degradable waste.
Moreover, it was observed that only around 777 out of total 2,500 households were covered for collection of non-biodegradable waste and that there was no door-to-door waste collection in place.
It was further observed that burnt residue of waste was seen outside the storage room, while waste was seen dumped at few places in the village along the road. While the inspection team noticed that the bailing machine was not in operation, the Board officials found that no waste was collected from commercial establishments.
Benaulim panchayat was one of the three coastal panchayats from Salcete which were banned from issuing construction licenses to housing projects for its failure to put an effective garbage disposal mechanism in place.
Hopes were raised early this year that the panchayat body has finally found a way to resolve the waste imbroglio when the Pollution Control Board vide letter dated December 11, 2013 expressed its satisfaction that the Panchayat has finally established an effective mechanism to tackle the non biodegradable and plastic waste.
