PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s call on Revolution Day to make Goa ‘Garbage-Free’ by 2022 may have struck a chord with the Goan masses, but on the ground it seems to be Herculean task for the BJP-led coalition government.
Dealing with Goa’s garbage has been an uphill task for the Government, considering the duplication of work and involvement of various ‘ill-equipped’ agencies into the collection of waste scattered all along the panchayat, municipal areas, highways and beach belts. The authorities feel that involvement of ‘multiple’ agencies for collection of garbage, leading to chaos and mismanagement, has been a major road block in making Goa garbage free- despite a political will.
Further, the saying ‘not in my backyard ’- goes down well with the State’s people; who on one hand want Government to tackle the increasing problem of the garbage but at the same time, are the first to oppose the scientifically manned waste treatment facilities in their areas.
“There is lot of duplication and overlapping of work. One needs to sort that out first. Also, they need to have civic sense; where public in large need to work together with government in resolving the garbage issue. One just cannot blame government for everything and then oppose government’s initiatives just for sake of opposition,” Goa Biodiversity Board (GBB) member secretary Pradip Sarmukadam said.
“The involvement of multiple agencies has in fact led to chaos and more garbage leading to environmental nuisance. There is no effective implementation by these agencies, which not only lack infrastructure but also are ill-equipped,” an official attached to Environment Department, said.
“Poor civic sense coupled with the haphazard manner in which agencies in charge are currently functioning has led to indiscriminate burning and dumping of waste across the state,” the official added.
The agencies like panchayats at village level, municipalities in the city-town areas are involved in collection and transportation of waste. Similarly, the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) deals with the garbage pilled along the national highways and the Tourism Department handles the garbage along the beaches…only beaches and has nothing to do with the entire coastal belt which falls in the jurisdiction of the concerned panchayats.
As per Goa State Pollution Control Board report on municipal solid waste, the total waste generated across the municipal areas in the state is approximately 210 tonnes per day. There is no authentic data available on the waste generation and its disposal in the 189 village panchayats of Goa. Estimates suggest that across the whole state, including the villages, the figure could be in the range of 450-500 tonnes per day. Of this, almost 60 percent this waste is bio-degradable.
Until a year back – before the commissioning of the garbage treatment facility at Saligao-Calangute plateau, Goa, one of the world’s most popular beach tourism destinations, had not a single efficiently functioning solid waste management plant. The only one worth its name at Sonsoddo, in South Goa, plagued by breakdowns and mismanagement, resulting in ugly garbage heaps of varying sizes lining the state’s main arterial roads, parks, playgrounds and open spaces and beaches.
“The Saligao waste treatment facility is an excellent beginning and we can say that looking at its success. Around 25 panchayats from the north costal belts are sending their waste for treatment. No doubt, there is already pilled dump but slowly that is also been cleaned by way of treatment,” Sarmukadam stated adding ‘but what we need is one dedicated agency to take care of State’s garbage with no duplication of work’.
In those lines, government recently constituted Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) – a full-fledged agency to deal with garbage problem and make Goa garbage free state by 2022. The corporation in phase manner intends to take over the garbage collection, transportation and management system for the entire State within their jurisdiction.
However, it does not seem to be easy task for the corporation, as some agencies like Tourism Department – not learnt from past mistakes – are hell-bent not to hand over the beach cleaning contract. “I don’t see any reason in handling over beach cleaning contract to corporation. The mess that happened in the past was not our fault. The beach cleaning will continue with us,” Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar said.
The beach cleaning is currently manned by Drishti Lifesaving Services which are trained in rescue operations.
“Multiple agencies collecting garbage is creating a major roadblock in achieving our dream. They don’t have the mechanism and trained people to deal with it. This results in non-effective implementation,” GWMC director Michael Lobo said.
“Making Goa garbage-free is not an easy task and it is not going to happen overnight. We need to work jointly along with large public participation, which is must,” he said informing that in phase manner Corporation will be taking over waste management system from all the agencies right from panchayat to GSIDC.
The corporation intends to appoint technical assistance to assist the panchayats and municipalities in handling and disposing waste. Along the national, state and district highways, garbage stations will be installed where commuters can deposit their household waste. The corporation also intends to take up sanitation, hygiene and garbage audit of the State.
Government is also coming up with three more waste treatment plants – Bainguinim for Central Goa, Curca for South Goa and Verna for industrial area.
