Even after three years of awarding the construction of organic waste management facility behind the Heera Petrol Pump, the capital city remains bereft of a garbage sorting and managing station in Panjim.
Despite the government proposing garbage treatment plants, a project for segregation facility and a dumping ground for the capital city could not be executed even after almost eight years of acquiring the land for the project.
The project was initially conceptualised more than a decade back keeping in mind the need for a garbage managing facility for the city. In 2009, Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) acquired land admeasuring 3,600 sq mts for the segregation and treatment facility.
An official of the CCP informed “We are given to understand that the executing agency, the GSIDC, has re-tendered the work orders and the work shall be completed soon.”
He said that the remaining work shall not require more than three months, however, the need of the hour is for the work to restart. “While payments may have been an issue, the real problem is to restart any project which has been stopped mid-way for such a long time,” he added.
Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), which is the executing agency of the Goa government for construction and infrastructure development in the state, awarded the project in 2014 to M/s Shilpi Constructions. The project included construction of a shed for providing facility for treatment of organic waste (pre-sorted) to generate compost.
However, the site was entangled into a controversy after the Botanical Society of Goa (BSG) and civil right groups opposed the proposed development, claiming that the facility is in an area marked as a No Development Zone in the outline development plan or ODP 2011. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a stay on the work in 2014 and subsequently the deadlines for the completion of the work have been revised.
While the NGT has now cleared the project, it has become handicapped with the main structure of the shed being completed and the roof sheets need to be placed and project completed.
GSIDC, in May 2016, included the project in its list of 30 projects which would be fast-tracked and completed within stipulated time.
Panjim, on an average generates 70 tonnes of garbage every day, which is dumped at Patto Plaza (two treatment planta) and at various compositing units. According to CCP statistics, a total of 130 compositing units are present across the city.
