Alleging serious deficiencies in the function ing of the recently commis sioned gasification plant at the Sonsoddo waste treat ment facility, the Margao Congress Block on Tuesday demanded an independent technical inspection, claim ing the plant is operating well below its designed ca pacity and raising concerns over the use of public funds. A delegation led by GPCC spokesperson and Margao Congress Block convener Savio Coutinho, along with Anwar Naroo, Aziz Shah, Lincoln Gomes and Mathin Carol, inspected the plant, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on April 23.
Speaking to reporters, Coutinho alleged that the plant, designed to process 10 tonnes of dry inorganic waste daily, was not deliv ering the expected output. He claimed the quantity of fly ash at the site was far be low the approximately 500 kg that should be generated each day if the plant were operating at full capacity. He further alleged that the fly ash contained par tially burnt plastic, raising doubts over whether the unit was achieving the tem peratures required for com plete combustion.
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The delegation also claimed conveyor belts meant to transport coco nut husk into the plant ap peared unused, pointing to accumulated waste and cobwebs as evidence. Coutinho accused the BJP government of turning waste management projects into “pilot experiments” at taxpayers’ expense and criticised Margao MLA and PWD Minister Digambar Kamat, alleging inadequate monitoring of the facility af ter its inauguration.
The Congress demanded that the Goa State Pollution Control Board and the Goa Waste Management Corpo ration conduct a compre hensive technical audit and make the findings public. Warning that public mon ey must be accounted for, Coutinho said the Margao Congress Block would con sider legal action against the Margao Municipal Council if the alleged lapses were not addressed.
