Directs Fomento to comply with waste rules or face action
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Asserting that Fomento has failed to comply with provisions envisaged in the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules at Sonsodo, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has directed the company to comply with its directions within 15 days or face action under the Environment Protection Act, including criminal proceedings.
Taking serious cognisance of the prevailing conditions at Sonsodo following an inspection carried out at the site on July 9, the GSPCB has issued a host of directions to Fomento to construct, operate and maintain a weighbridge at the plant to monitor the quantum of waste brought to the landfill and comply with the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2000.
Fomento has been directed to remove dumping of pre-process and post-process rejects, while calling upon the company to install bailing machines to bail the non-recyclable waste.
The GSPCB further directed the company to carry out regular check ambient air quality monitoring and establish the landfill facility for disposal of only inert waste.
While asking Fomento to stop open dumping at the site, GSPCB further called for ensuring that solid waste brought to the treatment facility doesn’t contain non-conforming waste.
The Board has called for repair of the secondary refined trammel and the stationed crane on priority and also maintain records of quantum of waste handled, treated and disposed of at the site. The company has been called upon to ensure proper management of the leachate at the site.
The GSPCB report revealed that the company had not put in place the weighbridge for monitoring the quantum of waste entering the treatment facility nor maintained any record of the same. Saying that leachate collection was not provided at the site, the report said that leachate generated from the old solid waste dumps of Sonsodo was found flowing in the storm-water drains.
Incidentally, the inspection revealed that the pre-process rejects generated from the treatment facility was found dumped in the existing old dumps at Sonsodo, while the secondary trammel installed for the treatment of waste was not in operational condition.
What’s interesting to note is the GSPCB report stated that the company did not maintain details of compost generated at the site, while saying that Fomento was required to plan and design the landfill site with proper documentation in a phased construction plan, but added that the same has not commenced till date. The Board observed that the landfill site is not fenced and is not provided with proper gate to monitor the incoming vehicles, while the company has failed to carry out ambient air quality monitoring.
When Herald contacted Fomento Green Chief Executive Officer, Sridhar Kamat for his comments on the GSPCB observations and directions, he declined to offer any comment saying his office is yet to receive the Board’s directions.
