Salcete’s coastal belt has failed to have a garbage management system and the toll of five star hotels, illegal home stays, restaurants, homes and mega housing projects can be seen across Benaulim, Colva, Varca, Orlim, Carmona, Cavelossim, Mobor, Vanelim, Seraulim, Sernabatim and Per-Seraulim.
There’s garbage dumped in every field and open space, the road from Varca to Benaulim is laden with plastic bags and alcohol bottles. And the village panchayats have failed to find a solution. They collect dry waste once a week and have nowhere to store it as they wait for volumes while the wet waste is flung like rugby balls in people’s backyards, fields, storm water drains or anywhere along the road.
“We have a huge garbage problem, even worse we’re not allowed to take any of it to Sonsoddo as that is for Margao and DMA or the High Court raises red flags on the land we identify for garbage management, so we’re quite helpless,” says Benaulim Sarpanch Remedious N Fernandes.
But in the midst of the problem, are two Benaulim men in their early 40s who decided it’s for them to stand up for their village and protect it and that’s when Braulio Britto and Rocky Fernandes independently work tirelessly through the night to catch garbage hurlers.
The Braulio Experience
“I would hang out with a few friends from the village late evening and I would notice a lot of guys flinging garbage bags here and there and would feel so bad about it since, I do so much to keep my surroundings clean in Benaulim,” said Braulio, who quit his job in Dubai a few years back and is full time in the village standing up for Benaulim.
It was then that he decided to stand up and question people who would throw garbage, catch the worker who works for a local restaurant or shack and make him not just take back the garbage he dumped but also the existing one in the field or nullah.
“This activity is done on bikes and is on the rise after restaurant kitchens close post 11.30 pm. You’ll have hotel boys, security guards, sometimes even office staff riding with big black bags of garbage trying to find a spot to fling it. We’ve even caught a GM from a hotel in Margao send his gurkha with garbage from the hotel to throw in Benaulim, maybe he avoids paying municipal fees and looks at such devious means to throw the garbage,” explains Braulio.
Braulio followed this gurkha back to a home in the heart of the city in Margao near Loyola High School, pulled out the GM and his wife and got the garbage removed from there. Moving vehicles, Nepali boys, old men on a scooty, Kashmiri carpet sellers with garbage or be it anyone, Braulio makes it a point to catch them and send them home with the bags.
After two years of doing this as a full-fledged activity of catching garbage hurlers, the panchayat saw the good work and issued Braulio and Rocky a card so that they were official ambassadors of the panchayat to carry out an activity such as this and catch garbage defaulters. Braulio does it as a voluntary activity and accepts no payments of any kind from the panchayat but despite being there full time for his family, Braulio eats into his night sleep, going out at night hunting anyone and everyone hurling garbage in his village.
He also takes pictures, shares the posts and most importantly sees that the defaulter once caught takes back all the garbage.
Rocky the good
taxi man
Taxi guys in Benaulim are mostly branded as expensive, pricey, always cheating tourists and arrogant. But in Pulwaddo Benaulim, there’s a taxi guy of different kind. Rocky Fernandes drives his customers across Goa through the day but at night, he’s the NightRider and gets into a different avatar of catching anyone who flings garbage into the open.
“I don’t just catch people who throw garbage in big bags and make them clean it up but I also put my hands into the garbage bags and find notes, bank statements, some old envelope with an address and go to these homes or hotels and return their filth,” explains Rocky similar to Braulio who has a card and makes people take out every scrap of their garbage and take it back from where it’s come.
“I had a little difference with my Sarpanch and was lying low on this matter, we’ve even fined people up to Rs 5,000 for disposing garbage in our village and we also call the cops,” explains Rocky, another 40-year-old. who’s focus is to see that Benaulim stays clean.
Rocky like Braulio drives around Benaulim’s lanes and bylanes and combs the beach for defaulters who wait to find easy means to dump garbage around.
“I want people to be aware of our effort of roaming through the village. It’s not a joke to solely comb the village, mobilize youth to assist us or to stand up against an individual in those wee hours. Someone can attack us or cause harm but my focus is to see that Benaulim doesn’t become a dumping ground,” explains Rocky who’s proud of his effort.
Rocky has got the panchayat to carry out awareness drives, cleanliness drives, distribute cloth and paper bags to replace plastics and keeps talking about garbage management while at night he keeps a watch for garbage hurlers.
Problem in
the Patrol
Braulio and Rocky after much fighting and a panchayat resolution managed to get cards to be an authority to stop anyone dumping garbage. But Rocky wants a part of the fines he collects reimbursed as revenue for his effort while, Braulio believes the fines should be given to the panchayat, while the panchayat can issue a voucher to pay them both if needed. But despite these differences and the incessant rainfall, Braulio and Rocky continue to serve Benaulim in a big way in eliminating open garbage dumb.
