MARGAO: Sonsodo could well play host to a Rs 12-crore plastic waste fuel plant, the first plant of its type in the State, if the Margao Municipal Council gives its stamp of approval to a proposal mooted by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA).
The proposal was scheduled for discussions at the special meeting of the Margao civic body on Friday evening, but the meeting was forced to be postponed to Monday morning after the government declared half-day holiday on Friday.
GSUDA Member Secretary Elvis Gomes said the government has mooted two plastic waste fuel plants, one in Bicholim and the second one in Margao at Sonsodo. “The government is keen to set up the first plant at Sonsodo given the availability of plastic raw material in the city. The ball now lies in the court of the Margao civic body to give its nod for the proposed plant,” Gomes said, adding that the resolution and NOC from the Margao Municipal Council will set the ball rolling for setting up of the plant at Sonsodo.
GSUDA officials in the know said the plastic waste fuel plant is emission free and sustains on the fuel generated by the plant. “The plastic waste fuel plant technology has been approved by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, besides the Central Pollution Control Board,” the official said.
Replying to a question, the GSUDA official said the plant can be set up on land admeasuring 2,000 sq mts. “Sonsodo fulfills the criteria for the simple reason that there’s plenty of plastic waste dumped at the site. Even though Sonsodo now plays host to a new garbage treatment plant, the landfill site is not yet ready,” the official said, adding that all existing waste as well as the fresh plastic waste generated in the city can sustain the fuel plant.
Incidentally, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has strongly favoured segregation of the thousands of tons of existing waste, mostly plastic waste, instead of capping. Both GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha and Member Secretary Levinson Martins have raised strong reservations on the capping of the Sonsodo plant on the lines of Gorai in Mumbai on grounds that the city will forever lose the waste dumping site once capped.
