PERNEM: Despite several assurances from the authorities and the laying of foundation stone for the garbage treatment plant project twice, Pernem taluka witnesses garbage related issues till date.
Pernem, which is still one of the under developed talukas, has a long coastal belt from Tiracol to Morjim, an industrial estate, upcoming Mopa Airport and electronic city and many more, generates a huge amount of garbage on daily basis but does not have a working garbage treatment plant to treat the dry as well as wet waste.
After a long wait, Pernem had finally received its own garbage treatment plant but this project has turned into a white elephant. Not only once but the foundation stone for this project was laid twice during which different ministers had promised to solve the garbage problem in Pernem but even after completion of the project the promises are pending as it is.
The foundation stone for the project located on Pernem plateau, spread over an area of 8,000 sq mt, was first laid in 2013 but remained non-functional for almost three and half years. In 2016 the second foundation stone was laid but till date the plant is not functioning in a full-fledged condition.
Sources said that the PMC collects and dumps two tonnes of garbage on regular basis every day and five tonnes of garbage on weekly market day. Currently the dumped garbage is not being segregated into wet and dry waste.
“The purpose of this plant was to treat plastic waste and to further convert it into fuel. The plant at present has two units, one is organic waste composter for wet waste and another is the shedding machine for dry and plastic waste. This plant is the only source for people of Pernem to get rid of the garbage which is at present found littered around the roadside”, a source, who chose to be anonymous, said.
The most affected garbage zones in Pernem are Dhargal to Patradevi NH66 and the Pernem coastal belt. Authorities claim that there are dustbins placed at different locations on NH 17 stretch but people prefer to dump their waste anywhere and anyhow. Pernem coastal belt has no proper availability of dustbins on beaches as well as on roadsides due to which people throw garbage on roadside creating a food zone for animals.
Goa has its waste management ministry as well as garbage plant ministry. However, only the village panchayats in costal belt that is Morjim, Mandrem and Arambol collect dry as well as wet garbage. The other panchayats only collect dry garbage which includes the plastic bags. Since these panchayats collect only dry waste, people are not aware of what to do with the other garbage and as a simple solution they just dump it on the side of the road or chose a rivulet.
Veena Naik, a local said, the garbage bins located on the national highway are always overflowing with bags of garbage. “Some people don’t even dump the garbage inside the bins which then acts as food zone for animals and these animals than spread this garbage all around. There is need to empty these bins on daily basis to avoid loitering of garbage at roadside,” she said.
Another local J Sawant said, “The garbage issue has become a regular topic raised in every gram sabha meeting. Every time the panchayat body claims that they are cleaning the garbage on daily basis but every time we visit the Arambol beach, plastic garbage can be found littered around at the entrance which gives a bad impression to the tourists.”
