TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council has been caught napping on waste management – this time on the disposal of dry and plastic waste generated in the Commercial capital.
The Margao civic body has so far failed to hand over the plastic waste to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) appointed contractor.
That’s not all. The baling machine gifted to the civic body by the Goa State Urban Development Authority (GSUDA) is awaiting installation over the last two months. And, to compound the problem, a mound of dry and plastic waste is slowly and steadily taking shape at Sonsodo – thanks to the non-disposal of the waste.
While the door-to-door waste collection exercise – implemented every month by spending a whopping Rs 18 lakh – ought to have helped segregation of dry and plastic waste, the ground reality appears different. The dry/plastic waste transported from the city is lying unattended to at Sonsodo. The GSPCB has refused to accept the waste since it is not properly segregated, while the workers engaged at the waste treatment plant have also refused to accept the waste on grounds it is not their responsibility to dispose off the dry waste.
Says GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Norohna: “Our contractor will only accept dry and non-recyclable waste. We have refused to accept MMC dry waste since it is all mixed waste.”
Norohna also said the MMC has not put to use the baling machine having 80-120 kg capacity, saying this only shows the indifference of the civic body to the problem.
Member of the Margao Municipal Solid waste management Cell Savio Coutinho said that gunny bags laden with dry/plastic waste are lying unattended to at Sonsodo. “The civic body has spent a good deal of money on the gunny bags. These bags are supposed to be re-used, but they are all lying dumped with waste at Sonsodo,” he lamented.
The situation has thrown up a pertinent question whether the purpose of introducing door-to-door waste collection project has been achieved if the civic body is found wanting in segregating the waste at source. Questions have also come to the fore whether the Concessionaire is responsible or not to dispose off the dry waste handed over by the municipality.
In a note put up to the chief officer, an MMC Assistant engineer pointed out that the Concessionaire is supposed to accept all waste except C & D waste, silt waste, debris and rubble; untreated biomedical waste; hazardous waste and dead remains.
