The Village Panchayat of St Cruz has taken one step towards Swachh Bharat by launching the door to door garbage collection on the day of Gandhi Jayanti.
The village was completely in a mess in the absence proper garbage management since many years portraying an ugly look of the village which is next to the State’s capital city.
Sarpanch of village panchayat St Cruz Mariano Araujo said that with the helping hand from the like-minded people the funds were raised to procure the required infrastructure for the collection of garbage.
“I have already held multiple meetings all over the village creating awareness of garbage collection and its handling. We have already launched the service, now the people of St Cruz have to coordinate and support the good cause”, Sarpanch Araujo said.
Panchayat has purchased the garbage collection bins as well as metal bins that will be placed strategically at different junctions and housing colonies.
Araujo said that for the entire project none of the funds were utilised from Panchayat kitty.
The segregated wet and dry garbage will be collected everyday from door to door. Panchayat has said that 20 contract staff have been recruited only for the collection of garbage.
Araujo said that only segregated wet and dry garbage will be collected by the staff and no plastic waste would be collected.
He informed that the bins which are placed in the colonies will be strictly used to collect the plastic and glass bottles and also the metal cans which are thrown everywhere.
“Our staff will not be collecting the mixed garbage with plastic bags, I appeal to the people to keep both wet and dry waste separately”, Araujo said.
Sarpanch said that the annual garbage collection tax will be collected saperately from the every household. He also said that as resolved in the August gram sabha fine of Rs 1000 would be imposed on the person found dumping garbage in an open area.
Panchayat has proposed the garbage collection centre at Kharo Sankov in St Cruz where any time of the day the garbage would be accepted from the locals.
Collected garbage would be send to the Garbage treatment plant at Saligao. Araujo said that they have agreed to collect the garbage from St Cruz on daily basis.
Speaking to Herald he said that most of the garbage menace in village of St Cruz is created by the migrants who are residing in the rented rooms.
“My next mission to provide the public toilets wherever required to stop people using open spaces for toilet”, he said.
Araujo further informed that an industrialist who is originally from St Cruz has agreed to donate a vehicle for the panchayat for the purpose of garbage collection.
Fr Alexander Pereira, Parish Priest of St Cruz church, welcomed the step taken by panchayat and appealed the people of village to coordinate with the garbage collection staff by giving them segregated garbage everyday as proposed by the panchayat.
“I hope people will support this good cause as garbage menace was a serious issue in the village”, he said.
