PANJIM/PORVORIM: With a slogan ‘Start from Self’ to achieve the goal of garbage free Goa by 2020, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday pledged to devote hundred hours for cleanliness every year. On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday celebrated as ‘Seva Divas’, Parrikar called upon citizens to vow not to use plastic in their daily lives.
On Sunday morning, the chief minister along with Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado and BJP workers took an oath to devote 100 hours for cleanliness yearly, with maximum two hours drive every day.
“I pledge today not to make use of plastic in my day-today activities. Let us start from self. Let us stop creation of waste right at the beginning,” Parrikar said during an event organized to mark the Seva divas in the city.
Stating that the garbage treatment plants are not the final solution for keeping the area or surrounding or State clean, the chief minister called upon people to start reducing consumption at home itself. “Let us stop using plastic bottles, plates, cups or other items in our homes or for functions,” he said.
“I have given clear directions to all the departments not to make use of plastic even while organizing the events. If failed to do so, then fine would be imposed,” he said.
The chief minister said that it is the dream of Modi-led government to make India open defecation free by 2019 and Goa government to make the State garbage free by 2020.
“To achieve the goal, the prime focus should be on reduction of unnecessary wastage created out of unnecessary consumption. Do not create waste at the starting point. As far as possible manage the waste at local level,” Parrikar said while inaugurating waste collection centre at Secretariat-Porvorim.
In a unique exercise across 400 schools, the Government has encouraged students to bring plastic and non-biodegradable waste from their household to the schools, from where it is being collected by Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) for treatment. “We are almost collecting around 1.2 to 2 tons of waste from schools,” Parrikar said.
Further, Government proposes to have small grids of 500 kg to 100 kg biogas plants for smaller municipalities or cluster of villages for treatment of waste generated by them. “This is to ensure that they don’t have to spend on transportation of waste to major plants like Saligao,” the chief minister said.
