Team Herald
PANJIM: The tussle between the Mayor and the Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has taken a new turn with the later issuing notices to hotels and housing complexes that no garbage would be collected from them.
CCP Mayor Uday Madkaikar informed that the Commissioner Shashank Tripathi earlier last week issued notices to hotels and around 44 housing complexes within the CCP’s jurisdiction without taking the Corporators into confidence.
He alleged that the sudden action was a reaction of the Mayor acting against the smart city project’s road digging work, due to which the Commissioner had earlier withdrawn the labourers from the wards and issued a new schedule later to carry out pre-monsoon works.
“The Commissioner has been acting arbitrarily and suddenly issued this notice to 44 housing complexes and other hotels that their garbage will not be collected and they have to treat their own garbage. He did not even bother to inform the Mayor or take the Corporators into confidence before taking such a step”, Uday stated.
In the notice the Commissioner has stated “Whereas the Ministry of Environment, forest and climate Change, Government of India vide notification dated 08/04/2016 has published the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016… Under the said rules all the bulk waste generators are mandated to treat and process bio degradable waste within the premises.”
The notice further states “Pursuant to the above said rules you are hereby requested to set up a processing unit (composting / bio-methanisation) within your premises at your own cost, for treating of bio-degradable waste generated from the establishment within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of this notice, failing which the Corporation of the City of Panaji would not collect any bio-degradable waste generated from the premises.”
However, the Mayor has opposed the idea of demanding the housing complexes to set up the processing units and that too within a stipulated time of 15 days, which is May 15.
Uday said “After the model code of conduct I will call the council meeting and take a resolution that these composting units be set up by the CCP. Most of these complexes are old and do not generate adequate funds to maintain their complexes, therefore to demand them to set up these processing units is not correct. We will extend our support to all such housing complexes and set-up these units for them at CCP cost.”
