Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) has directed the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation (GSWMC) to immediately clear the garbage dumped near Dr K B Hedgewar High School, Davorlim, and to work out a permanent solution to the garbage handling issue.
The Commission inspected the site after taking suo moto cognizance of the Herald report dated October 9, on the garbage dumping near Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyalaya, which has been causing severe hardships and health issues to the students studying in the school.
During the inspection, the Commission noted that the area is an intersection of three village panchayats, that is Maina Curtorim, Davorlim-Dicarpale and San Jose De Areal and residents from all the panchayats are dumping their household garbage, pointing out to inefficient handling of door-to-door garbage collections in these panchayats.
“The indiscriminate dumping of garbage close to the vicinity of Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyalaya at Davorlim poses serious health hazards to the students,” the Commission said adding that the local administration, including GSWMC which has a facility installed at the site, has failed to remove the garbage for the past almost three weeks with foul smell emanating from the rotting garbage.
“The unbearable odor emanating from the site can contribute to greater occurrence of sicknesses such as malaria, asthma and skins infections among students who travel to the school,” the Commission said.
While directing the GSWMC to clear off garbage within two days from now, it has asked the Block Development Officer, Salcette to convene a joint meeting of the three panchayats and GSWMC to arrive at a permanent solution to the garbage handling at the site.
Along with the minutes of the meeting, a compliance report has to be submitted to the Commission by Dec 15.
