Residents of Fontainhas, St Tome, Mala, Cortim and office workers at the EDC Patto complex are breathing foul air for the past eight years. This is thanks to the Corporation of the City of Panaji’s (CCP) mismanagement of the garbage treatment facility at Patto that treats the city’s wet waste.
It was in 2007, when CCP started a garbage dumping and treatment facility at Patto behind the LIC office. It was followed by a wet waste treatment plant in close proximity to the Central Library. The plant worth Rs 2 crore was set up in 2012, with a capacity to handle 20 tonnes a day and taking care of the bulk of the wet waste produced by residents, hotels and restaurants in the city.
A large quantity of untreated garbage continues to get piled up at the Patto site, with more than 30 tonnes of wet garbage being dumped there daily.
Though, the plant, managed to take care of the garbage woes haunting the city, its mismanagement has created a nuisance in the surrounding areas, affecting the living conditions of the people there. “We cannot inhale fresh air throughout the day. If we open our windows we smell the stench. We are going through respiratory problems here. But there is no one to listen,” Umesh Naik, a resident along Patto Colony, said.
The garbage problem at Patto started in 2007 when students and teachers in People’s High School, Hedgewar High School, Mushtifund, Mary Immaculate High School and Seventh Day Adventist, as also the residents of Mala and Fontainhas, started complaining of a foul smell. Eight years later the complaints still continue, as the CCP has failed to tackle the issue of odour emanating from the treatment facility.
The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), on three different occasions, issued notices to CCP regarding the plant, for creating environment problems. The first notice was served in 2007, another in 2011 and again another in 2014, directing the corporation to stop dumping garbage at Patto to avoid any stink inconveniencing residents of the area. The CCP, in its reply, assured that it would shift the facility behind the Heera Petrol pump.
Former co-opted CCP corporator, who was in-charge of waste management cell, Patricia Pinto said that during her term, a year back, she had managed to handle the garbage content at the site through proper treatment, reducing the stench to a large extent. “The wet waste is treated through organic waste converters. But if the quantity of waste is more, then it continues to remain untreated and smells,” she explained. Pinto was instrumental in constituting a garbage cell for the CCP. She has contributed in a big way in addressing the garbage woes of the capital city. She, however, stepped down in 2014, following unhappiness expressed by the opposition members about her work.
The corporators from the affected areas – Rudresh Chodankar and Shubham Chodankar – have been up in arms against the corporation for its failure to manage the treatment plant. Rudresh, last month, had launched a signature campaign urging CCP to stop disposing garbage at the Patto plant immediately, failing which they will physically stop the activity.
“The site is located adjacent to schools, residential and commercial establishments. Due to the disposal of garbage on a daily basis by the CCP, the neighbouring areas, especially Fontainhas, St Tome, and Mala area are affected due to this nuisance which also causes health problems,” Rudresh said, adding that the students of Mary Immaculate Girls High School, People’s High School and Seventh Day Adventist are affected by the smell and on many occasions have even vomited in school due to the foul stench.
Shubham came in support of his colleague and pointed out that lots of complaints have been received by the corporators asking that the garbage treatment at the site be stopped as the smell is gut-wrenching. “It is hardly 100 mts away from the residential area. Especially the schools are the worst affected. These children are likely to face health issues,” he said.
Following the opposition, CCP had in 2009 identified the area behind the Heera petrol pump for segregation and treatment. The site also saw controversy, after the Botanical Society of Goa (BSG) and civil right groups opposed the proposed development, claiming that the facility would be in an area marked as No Development Zone in the outline development plan or ODP 2011. CCP has now managed to get clearances under CRZ and from GSPCB for setting up the unit.
CCP officials, including Commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues and Waste Management Cell in-charge Sachin Ambe, were unavailable for comments on Monday.
