Karsten Miranda
MARGAO: Across the 30 panchayats of Salcete, there have been recurring complaints of garbage-filled bags lying in the villages for months. While the thin black plastic bags are a sore sight in some villages so far, in others they have started emanating a stench as well.
While this issue has been debated in the panchayats of Benaulim and Navelim, the panchayats of Velim, Ambelim and Curtorim have thrown up their hands in exasperation that they can do on so much.
Panchayats across the taluka have accused Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) of leaving behind non-recyclable waste and criticized it for irregular collection of garbage generated from the door-to-door collection drive. They also requested the Board to inform them of a proper time table for garbage collection.
The panchayats expressed helplessness regarding the future course of action and pointed out major flaws in the garbage collection drive proposed by GSPCB. The Board has left behind some garbage and the area where it is being stored is running out of space.
Some panchayats have even stated that GSPCB has not collected dry garbage for the last six months despite repeated reminders, and that the garbage bags were getting wet in the rain. The workers were refusing to take that garbage along with them. The sarpanchas want the government and GSPCB to hold a meeting with them to sort out these technical and other coordination issues.
The union further lamented that some villages had still not been able to identify a suitable garbage-dumping site and that the panchayats required financial support and manpower for such cleanliness drives.
Additionally, the Salcete panchayat forum had written to the chief minister elucidating various problems and hardships that the panchayats face. They also informed that there was no provision to sanction workers to carry out civic works the way the municipalities have. The forum pointed out that many panchayats do not have sufficient funds for handling the garbage and that the fees provided by the government are insufficient. They also lamented that the government had failed to implement article 243 of the constitution, which states that the government should share the revenue collected through taxes with the panchayat and municipalities.
The above issues were discussed threadbare with the then chief secretary (CS) B Vijayan on December 12, 2013 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.
The CS informed the panchayats that the door-to-door collection and segregation of garbage were extremely crucial.
It may be noted that in June 2013, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the monitoring-cum-working committee on solid waste management cell (SWM) and the Karnataka-based cement manufacturing firm to establish a model for proper collection, segregation and delivery of an agreed quantity of non-biodegradable plastic waste to the plant.
“We have deputed two trucks and appointed a contractor to check the segregated waste before transporting it to our baling stations. Collection of garbage from panchayats and sending it to baling stations is carried out daily, whereas transportation of the baled waste to the cement kiln is undertaken once or twice a week,” said an SWM cell official.
He added, “Many a times, we refuse to collect the solid waste if the panchayats collect segregated garbage in small quantities of two to three bags or collect mixed waste. It is not economical for transportation. As we have to shell out Rs 45 per km for collection and Rs 20,000 is incurred on sending it to the cement kiln, the minimum requirement should be about 500-600 kg of solid waste.”
Incidentally, the bailing station-cum-collection centre is at Cacora, Curchorem, where the garbage collected from South Goa is baled.
