ANIL SHANKWALKER
PORVORIM
Given the State government’s appeal to local bodies to tackle their garbage problems, one would have expected government authorities to have expedited requests by panchayats to acquire land for garbage management projects.
Socorro Panchayat claims to have asked the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department to grant permission to acquire land for a garbage management system, but is yet to receive sanction from the TCP since May 2013.
Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has now taken up the matter with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and hopes to get the issue resolved within the next 2-3 weeks.
Speaking to Herald, Socorro Sarpanch Vaishali Satardekar said the village on an average generates about 3 tonnes of garbage per day.
“In a bid to resolve the garbage problem, the panchayat started a door-to-door collection of garbage in each ward. The contractor has been appointed to collect garbage on a daily basis, while the panchayat spends over Rs 60,000 every year on collection of garbage,” she informed.
“The panchayat has also installed warning boards at various places requesting villagers not to throw garbage by the roadside. But some insensitive people simply ignore these warning boards. After collecting the garbage, the contractor dumps it on the Socorro plateau offered by the Serula Communidade,” said Satardekar.
Satardekar informed that the panchayat in a letter dated May 8, 2013, had requested the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department to grant permission to acquire the land.
“However, the TCP on May 8, 2013, replied to the panchayat stating “you are required to submit the proposal for the acquisition of land as per the site shown for the Garbage Management System in the regional plan for Goa 2021. You are also required to submit the proposal of acquisition of access road to the proposed site’.”
“In our reply to TCP, the Socorro Panchayat stated that the land is away from human habitation and hence the site is suitable for disposal of garbage. However, there has been no reply from the TCP in this regard as yet,” she said.
When contacted, Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte said he has taken up the issue with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and has requested him to look into the matter.
“The chief minister has already spoken to the Town and Country Planning department and advised them to reconsider their decision and move the file. The chief minister felt that garbage is a serious and important matter and should not be kept pending for minor hitches,” said Khaunte.
“I am expecting the matter to be resolved within next 2-3 weeks. The panchayat has started segregation activities at the site. Once the land acquisition process is completed, I propose to set up a mini-garbage treatment at the site with financial assistance from the State government,” said Khaunte.
