MARGAO: The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court adjourned the hearing in the Sonsoddo garbage management issue to August 29, thereby giving the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) and other authorities concerned a month’s time to comply with the directions it had given recently.
It may be recalled that on July 11, while hearing a writ petition filed by Citizens of Sonsoddo, the HC had issued certain directions to the Margao municipal council to report to the Secretary (Urban Development) and to indicate day-to-day progress of waste management.
The HC had also barred MMC from issuing fresh construction licences until further orders, while also directing that the work at Sonsoddo be taken up on a war footing.
While the Chief Officer (CO) of the civic body had submitted a compliance report last week, it was asked to submit a progress report by July 26 again, which it did.
Following this, the HC fixed the next hearing to August 29 with a caution to strictly adhere to the timelines contained in the action plan.
In its compliance report, the Margao municipal council chief officer has stated that the entire day-to-day waste is being disposed of at the Saligao treatment plant and at the SGPDA plant and that the work of reconstructing the retaining wall and procurement of required equipment is being taken up on priority.
While the CO reiterated that the MMC is complying with the directions that were given to them by the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), it was pointed out that the work of remediation of the wet waste piled up inside the shed could pose a challenge at the present since work on the remediation cannot be taken up during the monsoon.
It may be recalled that as per the HC directions 10,000 MT of accumulated waste is to be removed, screened and disposed of by Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC).
It is to be noted that some of the other works that has to be carried out (after monsoon) and completed within six months include: creation of additional space at Sonsoddo as per the approval granted by the high powered coordination committee; increasing the water capacity of tank from 50,000 litre to 1 lakh litres (additional tank to be installed) and shifting of HT line (33 KVA) passing through Sonsoddo site by electricity department ground cabling).
