Due to lack of waste management system in remote areas, people have been dumping garbage and other waste in the forest along the Valpoi-Panjim road in Sattari taluka.
The issue has been addressed by media and environmentalists several times in the past and the NGOs too have taken the initiative to clean the area. But despite all their efforts the site has turned into an eyesore to passersby.
Residents pointed out that commercial and food joints operating in the area dump their waste in the forest and to add to this, stray and wild animals feast on the same.
“People park their vehicles and just dump their garbage when no one is around. Later the stray and wild animals feast on the waste and the air around is polluted,” said N Naik, a Valpoi resident.
Valpoi Municipal Council (VMC) has its own garbage treatment plant in Sayyad Nagar and the civic officials say that door-to-door garbage collected from municipal areas is treated at the plant. However, residents of the panchayat area, say that they don’t collect the garbage which is strewn along the road and in the forest.
The panchayat collects taxes from households and commercial establishments, but it lacks a strategy to address the garbage issue. Most panchayats in Sattari taluka have not earmarked sites for garbage disposal despite High Court directives and have been dumping their waste in the forest.
Residents say that the Forest Department has to crack down on dumping of garbage by installing close circuit cameras. They suggested that patrolling should be intensified in these areas as people dump garbage during the night.
“If the panchayat wants to check on this illegal dumping they have to install CCTV cameras so that the culprits can be traced and punished,” said Ajit Gaonkar, another Valpoi resident.
