A legal battle looms large between the Shristhal panchayat and the Canacona Municipal Council (CMC), after the Shristhal panchayat recently accused the CMC of failing to seek its permission to use village land for the CMC’s garbage treatment plant at Dumane.
The panchayat has now decided to petition the High Court if the CMC does not allow the panchayat to dump its garbage in the treatment plant.
According to Shristhal village’s customary gram sabha on October 2, the CMC was accused of illegally setting up the garbage treatment plant in Shristhal village jurisdiction at Dumane, without obtaining an NOC of Shristhal Panchayat.
The gram sabha was attended by many residents, besides Sarpanch Laximan Raikar, panchas Devendra Naik and Datta (Pandurang) Velip and Panchayat Secretary Sandeep Dessai.
The gram sabha was informed that the previous panchayat had drafted an agreement to be signed between the two local bodies to allow dumping and processing of garbage generated in Shristhal village at Dumane garbage plant, before a NOC could be issued to the civic body. However, the Shristhal panchayat informed the residents that CMC ignored the agreement and even without obtaining NOC, went ahead and constructed compound wall and set up the treatment plant inside a shade.
The CMC then began operations at the Dumane garbage treatment plant two years ago, despite stiff opposition from nearby residents of Shristhal panchayat, as well as residents of Agonda and Khola. The aggrieved residents complain that heaps of untreated garbage has been left to decay, causing unbearable stench along an adjacent road.
The gram sabha finally resolved to write to CMC to sign the agreement so that the Shristhal panchayat, which is yet to comply with the High Court orders on rural garbage treatment plant in the village, can also utilize the Dumane garbage treatment plant. If no reply is received within 15 days, the Shristhal panchayat has decided to intimate the High Court and complain against the CMC for preventing the village body to comply with court directives, despite already having a garbage treatment plant on its land.
Gram sabha member Shirish Pai and former Shristhal deputy sarpanch Sanju Naik spoke vociferously against the CMC and demanded action against the civic body for setting up a treatment plant on Shristhal village land without obtaining the panchayat’s NOC. When contacted, CMC chairperson Simon Rebello dismissed the allegations and threats by Shristhal panchayat members at the gram sabha meeting.
“As far as I know, there is no understanding (agreement) nor any MoU inked with Shristhal Panchayat to allow their garbage at CMCs Dumane garbage treatment plant,” said Rebello.
Responding to allegations that CMC had illegally set up the Dumane garbage treatment plant without an NOC from the Shristhal panchayat, Rebello shot back: “How can the garbage treatment plant come up without permission from the local body? I am informed that Shristhal Panchayat granted its NOC, after the file with drawings was submitted to them months before the work on it actually commenced. The project is not illegal at all.”
“See, the land was acquired by CMC and accordingly, the garbage plant was set up by making the requisite construction. Moreover, whenever we get the letter from the Shristhal Panchayat on a resolution adopted by its gram sabha, I will place it before the council meeting to arrive at some decision,” Rebello added. But Rebello outlined the difficulties in allowing Shristhal to dump its village garbage in CMC’s Dumane garbage treatment plant.
“Given the insufficiency of the Dumane garbage treatment plant, which has been set up on barely 2,000 sq mts of acquired land, our proposal to expand the project by acquiring adjacent land has been rejected by GSPCB on grounds that the adjoining green area cannot be earmarked for garbage use.”
“These circumstances may play a negative role in allowing any third party garbage in CMC’s Dumane garbage treatment plant, as our own daily garbage collection is largely affected due to very limited processing and insufficient dumping space inside the plant,” said Rebello.
