It is extremely easy to undertake one step fermentation of enzymes, hormones, amino acids or organic acids but to monitor bioreactors involved in biogas fermentation or invessel composting requires special knowledge and skills with years of experience to engineer the conversion of wastes into biogas. The mixed fermentation of biogas by saccharophiles which convert carbohydrates to organic acids and the methanogenic bacteria which take on the process further converting organic acids to methane is a challenge to fermentation experts. Specially so, because methane production (biogas) from garbage requires skills to suppress the growth of bacteria which produce hydrogen sulphide, nitrous oxides, ammonia, excessive hydrogen or carbon oxide which forms carbonic acid with water added to it.
I am placing these above scientific facts and not boring the readers with finer details of fermentation to impress upon the common man that the producing methane from municipal garbage and subsequent electricity generation from biogas would be a penny wise and pound foolish approach as the returns on investments on a garbage based biogas plant would be a criminal waste of funds as the fermentation is not only energy intensive but requires manpower and with skill requirements too. “Whose father, what goes,” seems to be the approach of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation which along with Department of Science and Technology with the Solid Waste Management Cell it controls; have signed an Agreement which would require us to pay around Rs. 10,00,000/- each day to the contractors of the firm Hindustan Solid Waste Management Plant supposed to undertake Integrated garbage treatment facility. Sadly the amount is only for the treatment of segregated waste supplied by the panchayats to the door step of the Hindustan Solid Waste Management Facility at Saligao.
Interestingly the Biomedical wastes, the Hazardous Wastes, the mineral oils, construction boulders, mud and sand would need to be taken care of by the panchayats. There are no incinerators or biomedical landfill site. To take care of the inert wastes for the period of 10 years there is a facility. Technically the entire process is debatable. The entire system is corrosive and driven by heavy machinery and monitored by computers and the weary Goan tax payer or the North Goa Coastal Panchayats would have to foot the tall bill as “polluter pays” principle would apply. After 10 years the system needs to be junked and would the 24 coastal panchayats including Calangute and Candolim find this economically viable and worthy; is for the coastal panchayats to decide and it must not be at the cost of Goan tax payer at large.
As a Panjimite , I already pay for the treatment of Panjim Garbage. Should I be forced to subsidise the cost of Saligao waste treatment from now on whilst the panchayats from 24 coastal villages in North Goa are to supply 100 tonnes of garbage for treatment, they all have been forced into segregating and sending their wastes to the Saligao based plant costing Rs. 150 crores, whose machinery essentially are imported from abroad or manufactured outside Goa. There is over Rs. 35 Crores involved in foreign exchange and over 60 crores of rupees in the procurement of Electro Mechanical items such as organic extrusion units, screw pumps, filter press feed machinery, centrifuges conveyor belt, heat exchangers, bio filters, biogas engines, electronic weigh bridges and numerous ancillary units to prepare biogas compost and treat effluents. All in all to summarize for each tonne of garbage over Rupees Two Thousand as expenditure is envisaged. Hence to run the plant and treat garbage of around twenty four panchayat Goans would now need to pay over Rupees 10 Lakhs more per day to the contractor.
The meter toward payment of dues to Hindustan Solid Waste Management Facility is now on. Surely there would be Challenges, questions and oppositions to the fact that as to why are Waste Management Facility which could be best laid with around thirty crores was transformed into a power and finance guzzling unit, where Goans are now forced into a contract by which rupees thirty eight crores should be paid each year for the next ten years.
Goa is reeling under 15,000 crores of debts through borrowings; there are 180+ panchayats and municipalities to cater to waste treatment of biodegradable nature, Goa would require at least 5 such plants, incurring the cost of Rs. 60 Lakhs per day. Is it feasible or plausible? Besides panchayats and civic bodies must segregate wastes, separately, treat hazardous wastes, and also get rid of biomedical wastes. This exercise would cost around Rs. 60 lakh a day if plants such as Hindustan Waste Treatment Plant are to be planned across Goa.
Sadly Goan scientists, yours sincerely included have been totally in the dark on the Agreement, and the people of Goa would be flabbergasted as to why financial reasonability, local feasibility and economic viability were not stringently and effectively done, by the finance department, the legal authorities, the technical engineers and the scientists from Goa Government.
As such the government of Goa is working on a deficit budget and it should not place burden on future generation. We have a system whereby we service our projects by borrowings to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees. The will place Goa in a debt trap. The Saligao Plant for Solid Waste Management would be a “New White Elephant” as well as a mill stone on the back of Goan Tax payer. The Chief Minister of Goa whilst addressing the Goa Assembly in the last concluded monsoon Session said that paying every year rupees thirty eight crores for garbage treatment is too little for 24 coastal panchayats. Interestingly, he gives only one lakh per year to each of the panchayats in Goa. But he finds giving rupees ten lakhs and more to the contractors of the Saligao Plant is little or manageable. How just, how logical only time will tell, I am confident that a sound spirited Goan would question as to why a panchayat which does 90% of the duties towards waste management is paid only 3% of expenses and the contractor which undertakes just 10% of garbage treatment gets 97% of the funding towards Garbage treatment. Is 1 Lakh per year given to panchayats across Goa reasonable, as against Rs. 10 Lakhs per day given to the contractor; only posterity will tell us the answer.
Author is former professor of Microbiology at Goa University.
