Even being one of the under-developed talukas, Pernem has its own identity of having a long stretch of coastal belt from Tiracol to Morjim along with one industrial estate and households who create a huge amount of garbage on daily basis. With the garbage generated in the taluka, a state of the art plastic waste treatment plant was built in Pernem but it has remained inactive for the last five years.
Turning into a White Elephant, authorities have turned a blind eye towards this project for which crores of tax payer’s money have been spent.
Several foundation stones have been laid in the last five years for this project and two ministers have come and gone but still the plant is not functioning. And the maintenance cost is gradually rising every year.
Located on Pernem plateau, the project is over an area of 8,000 sq mts. Its foundation stone was laid in the year 2013 and was first inaugurated in June 2016 but the plant remained non-functional for almost three and half years till the second inauguration was held in 2016. But since the second inauguration the plant has remained silent.
The project, undertaken by Goa State Urban Development and Pernem Municipal Council was initiated after an agreement with a Tamil Nadu-based company MK Aromatics Ltd and would run on revenue-sharing basis.
Sources said that at present there are only two workers working at the site as security guards. When Herald visited the site, it was found that the municipality has dumped tonnes of garbage on the site.
PMC collects 2 tonnes of garbage on regular basis and around 5 tonnes of garbage is collected on weekly market day. However, the garbage which is presently lying at the site is not segregated.
When contacted the Chief Officer of Pernem Municipal Council Gautami Parmekar, said, “Construction work of the plant is still going on. This plant will convert plastic into fuel and the work is undertaken by MK Aromatics. This work will be completed in next five months after that the plant will start functioning”.
Sources said the purpose of this plant was to treat plastic waste and to further convert it into fuel. The plant presently has two units, one is organic waste composter for wet waste and the other is a shedding machine for dry and plastic waste. The plant already has the required machinery in place but authorities are yet to hire the required manpower to work on the plant.
Sources from PMC said the project is ready according to the conditions laid by the company. The conditions included the project be located away from residential area, schools, colleges and hospital built above the ground water level. This project has also received its authorisation from the State pollution control board.
If the plant starts functioning than it has a capacity to treat 10 tonnes of garbage on daily basis which will further give out 7 tonnes of furnace oil which can be further used by boilers and ships along with 3 tonnes of met coke and 500 kg of wax, a source disclosed.
Since PMC receives only 2 tonnes of garbage on regular basis, it was also decided that the municipality will collect garbage from neighboring villages such as Morjim, Mandrem and whole of coastal belt.
The most affected garbage zone in Pernem is the Pernem coastal belt from Keri to Morjim. Since the Pernem coastal belt is the most visited by Indian as well as foreign tourists, and as this road leading to these beaches has no dust-bins the travellers are forced to dump the waste at the roadside.
