Team Herald
Margao: Margao Municipal Council (MMC) Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes is determined to solve the rising garbage management problems, which have been a gargantuan headache to the council and wants to make a beginning in this regard, in the year 2021.
“The Sonsodo dump heap will definitely be reduced next year as the bioremediation process has already started and the municipality is monitoring it on a day to day basis,” he said, while adding that quite a bit of the dump heap has been attended to.
However, he said the municipality has launched a plan to treat the daily garbage that is collected so that the pressure on Sonsodo is reduced. In the first place MMC proposes to set up two plants, one at the SGPDA market and the other at Sonsodo. “We have already invited tenders to set up these two plants and the same will be opened on January 5, 2021,” he said disclosing that each of the plants will cost Rs 2.49 crore. Incidentally, the councillors had approved two types of plants one proposed by GSUDA costing Rs 2.49 crore and the other by GWMC that cost double the price.
“I have decided to go for the cheaper one and install two of them so that the garbage management is distributed instead of heaping it at one place only,” he said.
Besides the municipality will install garbage management plants at three societies, which have been identified to be bulk operators as they generate garbage of around 1.5 tonnes per day. The municipality will install the plant costing around Rs 5 lakhs while its operation and maintenance will have to be done by the society.
The three societies where this will be set up are Nalanda Apartments at Rawanfond, Pratibha Housing Co-operative Society at Aquem near late Babu Naik’s house and CD Good Earth opposite the PWD building at Fatorda.
In addition to this, the municipality has got approval from the Directorate of Municipal Administration to install 10 biogas digesters for societies generating around 50 kgs of garbage every day. These digesters costing around Rs 3 lakh each will be installed by the municipality while the operation and maintenance will be the societies’ responsibility.
