In the drive to make India achieve complete cleanliness in the next two years, Goa’s capital city Panjim pulled it off except for the municipal market where garbage dumps are an usual scene. The cleanliness drive – launched mid-September as a part of pan-India campaign and culminated on Gandhi Jayanti – raises a question whether Panjim will continue to remain chacachak.
Herald travelled across various pockets of Panjim to find that the cleanliness drive was indeed taken seriously; however, the otherwise filthy municipal market did not seem to have observed the ‘special days’ as it was surrounded by garbage.
“Various committees, groups, individuals, and other associations took up the cleanliness drive in their respective jurisdictions. The schools and offices too were a part of the initiative. But we wonder if this is a long-term effect or short-lived,” Sonia Mossais, a volunteer told Herald.
The capital city, that houses several government offices, educational institutions, commercial establishments and tourist attractions witnessing huge influx of visitors on a daily basis, has often witnessed heaps of garbage. Campal parade ground, Patto Plaza, parts of Mala, Bhatulem, market, commercial street 18th June Road are some of the spots where garbage is strewn around.
Ironically, locations warning citizens against dumping garbage are also laden with garbage dumps.
The city generates around 40 tonnes of garbage every day. However, absence of a dedicated garbage dumping site has unfortunately forced the authorities either not to collect the garbage on a daily basis or to dump it at Patto treatment site.
Panjim has been struggling to find a full-fledged garbage treatment facility with both its projects – Bainguinim treatment plant and the site behind Heera petrol pump – pending since 2009, initially due to public protests followed by bureaucratic hurdles.
