TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Ahmedabad-based waste management expert, P U Asnani on Monday said the Sonsodo treatment plant is one amongst the best in the country, but said that certain things need to be put in place before the plant gives the desired results.
Soon after the Margao civic body inked an agreement with Asnani’s Urban Management Consultants for consultancy services for the next one year for Rs 17 lakh after dilly dallying for the last two years and half, the waste management expert exuded confidence that Margao would be amongst the 100 cities out of 7,935 cities and towns in the country to have a solid waste treatment facility.
Asnani told newsmen after an hour and half long marathon meeting with MMC city fathers that the Sonsodo plant installed by Fomento Green has come up well, but maintained that certain things are yet to fall in place.
He said it will take around six months for the land fill site to take shape at Sonsodo provided the civic body releases Fomento’s payments after certification of bills and added that it would take two months for the compositing machine to fall in place.
Replying to a question, he said his role at Sonsodo would be to find out whether the waste treatment plant is constructed as per the terms of the agreement and to guide and assist the company in the smooth operation of the plant.
“A good beginning has been made at Sonsodo. But issues such as pre-sorting of the waste, installing a weighing bridge and 70 mm screen will have to be put in place within the next couple of weeks or days. Only then, we will be in a position to certify the plant”, he said.
Expressing satisfaction that MMC has resolved to cap the Sonsodo site, Asnani said that capping would change the entire face of Sonsodo. “The flies will disappear once the existing site is capped,” he added.
Replying to a question, he said pre-sorting of waste will help rejection of unwanted waste such as plastic, gunny bags, footwear etc at the first stage itself. “The Sonsodo plant is working as per a biological process, wherein degradation of organic matter takes place in the presence of oxygen. During the process, waste is broken down, after churning every week, it gets converted into compost. We have to ensure it is free from bacteria and pathogens”, he said.
On the compost produced at Sonsodo during the trial runs, Asnani said the compost appears good visually, but it had to undergo laboratory investigations.
