TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council on Tuesday resolved not to open the doors of the Sonsodo waste treatment site for waste generated in the villages bordering the commercial capital.
A proposal from Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado to accept garbage from Navelim constituency at the Sonsodo waste dumping site did not find favour with the Margao civic body on Tuesday.
After heated discussions on the issue, it was finally decided that the civic body may think of accepting waste at Sonsodo from Navelim and neighbouring constituencies in Salcete only after meeting the requirements of the commercial capital.
When the proposal came before the council meeting, councillor Pratima Coutinho said the municipality should accept waste from Navelim at Sonsodo on grounds that the waste from this place was finding its way into her Colmorod ward bordering the village. Her stand, however, evoked strong opposition from Councillor Sadanand Naik, who contended that other villages will also demand dumping of waste at Sonsodo if Navelim turns out an exception.
Councillor Doris Texeira said the civic body should first put its waste management system in order before taking any decision to accept outside waste.
After much discussion Chairperson Arthur D’Silva said the civic body can think of accepting outside waste only after putting the landfill site in place and capping the Sonsodo site.
“We have to first start door-to-door waste collection. As per High Court ruling, panchayats have to build their own plants. First, let us put our system in place before accepting outside garbage,” he said.
