MARGAO: With the garbage dumping continuing at the Sonsoddo waste treatment plant at Margao, the locals are now prompted to think that there is only waste and no management at the site.
The question remains before the citizens is whether the ‘Que Sera Sera, situation, or the wet waste will be treated via the windrows method or whether it will go into the bio methanation plants or will continue to be transported to Saligao and Cacora.
Crores of rupees have been spent on this so-called waste management, but a concrete solution continues to evade those in command at the Margao Municipal Council (MMC).
Komex, the only company that was treating the waste free of cost, and which was also supposed to share profits with the Council after the seventh year was driven away and what followed thereafter was a huge drain-off of public funds.
Dr Roslyn Pereira said that presently, the authorities are making the best out of an ongoing PIL before the High Court, whereby the Council creates an emergency-like situation, and the Court is compelled to agree to proposals, which in no manner can be called scientific treatment of waste.
Savio Coutinho, former Chairperson said that within a period of hardly three years, the Hon’ble Court has agreed to the Remediation of the so-called “segregated wet waste” at a total cost of over Rs 6 crore. And most astonishingly, not a single kilogram of “useful” compost was derived from the Remediation works.
He alleged that all that happened was that the accumulated waste went through the tromells for simple screening, and based on the sizes of the screened material, the materials were classified as compost, inert and RDF and dumped at different low-lying areas in Margao.
It is interesting to note that even the term “Legacy Waste” has been redefined by the MMC, as they have now started terming the one or two years old waste accumulated in the shed as “legacy waste”, he added.
Carlos Gracias, another citizen said that on the front of setting up treatment plants, first, the Council came up with 3 nos of 5 TPD Bio Methanation plants, which was planned as a measure to decentralise the waste treatment. When these were in the process of finalisation, the then Waste Corporation Minister Michael Lobo came up with a proposal of setting up seven 5TPD bio methanation plants, which were unfortunately double priced.
Out of the three Bio Methanation plants proposed earlier, only one was actually set up, but that too is not functioning as per the requirements and has run into rough weather at present,” he pointed out.
“With the change in government and the change in Waste Management Minister, another visit happened at Sonsodo, with yet another scheme of setting up of a 25 TPD plant. But as of today, not a soul is in the position to say what happened about this proposal,” said Loyola Rodrigues.
The most unique thing happening at Sonsodo at present, with the nod of the Hon’ble High Court, is that crores of rupees are being spent on the construction of platforms for windrow treatment of wet waste collected. At the same time, the Waste Management Corporation is apparently planning to set up the 25 TPD bio methanation plant.