Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Friday moved a resolution in the Goa Legislative Assembly urging the government to relocate all vehicle scrapyards and metal salvage yards from residential, agricultural, and eco-sensitive village areas to designated zones within Goa IDC estates.
Sardesai said these scrapyards pose serious environmental and health risks while disrupting rural life. He called on the government to identify existing scrapyards, develop properly equipped IDC zones, and implement a phased relocation plan to ensure safe and regulated operations.
The MLA reminded the House that the government had given an assurance on the matter two years ago but had failed to take action. “There are around 1,000 scrapyards in the State, but only 269 have been registered, which means almost 800 are operating outside the law,” he stated.
Responding to the resolution, Waste Management Minister Atanasio Monserrate said the government was seized of the issue and had already initiated steps to relocate existing scrapyards. He informed that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) had constituted a committee comprising officials from the Revenue Department, Department of Urban Development, Directorate of Panchayats, Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GSIDC), Administrator of Comunidades, and the GWMC to identify land for recycling units and scrapyards.
Monserrate added that the GWMC was formulating a draft Goa Waste Recycling Policy to regulate and relocate unorganised recycling, upcycling units, and scrapyards to identified areas.
MLA Viresh Borkar said he had lodged several complaints against scrapyards in his constituency but no action had been taken. “Sometimes there have been incidents of fire at these scrapyards, causing harm to the environment,” he warned.
MLA Venzy Viegas pointed out a lack of planning on how scrap would be transported to industrial estates once relocated.
Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate assured the House that a meeting would be convened by next month to work out a solution.