After beaches, temples and churches, Goa seems to have become popular across the world for its waste all over.
It’s not only the Sonsodo that stinks and creates nuisance, the State has a total of 11 dumps which has a legacy waste of 4.7 lakh m3.
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The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GMWC) has begun the process of remediating the waste.
The GWMC has identified 11 legacy dumpsites in the State and has taken up the work of remediation of these legacy dumps. Other than the 11 sites, the State has remediated approximately 1,23,000 tonnes of waste till date from legacy dumps at Saligao, Cacora and Aradi.
The remediation of State’s one of the oldest garbage dump- Sonsoddo dump commenced in December, last year.
Though started at a very slow pace, the Corporation claims that nearly 40 per cent waste has been remediated so far; while another 60 per cent waste from Sada dump is being cleared.
Only Saligao plant not enough
While Goa has only one ‘State of the Art’ Solid Waste Management Plant, which has exceeded its capacity and at times has been handling waste up to 200 tonnes per day, which is double the capacity of 100 TPD.
Bainguinim way cleared
After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissed an appeal that had been filed challenging the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted to the proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant (ISWMP) at Bainguinim, the State government has cleared the way to begin work on the Bainguinim waste management plant.
The Bainguinim Citizen Forum (BCF) had approached NGT challenging the EC granted to the project by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) in January, this year. Sources said that the appeal has been dismissed by NGT, while giving the go ahead to the project.
After much delay, the government, through GWMC has invited applications for pre-qualification bids for setting up a Rs 240 crore ISWP at Bainguinim.
ISWMP, to be a centralised facility for the State, will be set up on PPP model with 100 per cent financing by the successful bidder. The project has been caught in litigation since 2009.
GWMC has decided to undertake development and operation and maintenance of the project through Public Private Partnership (PPP) on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) with 100 per cent financing by the successful bidder.
In the design capacity of 250 TPD, dry waste treatment will account for 40 per cent while the balance 60 per cent will be for wet waste.
CCP had, in 2009, acquired 1.71 lakh sq metres of land at Bainguinim to set up the ISWMP to handle the waste generated in the State capital. However, the proposal was caught in a legal battle, following an objection raised by the local village panchayat.
In 2017, the project was handed over to GWMC with CCP transferring the land to the waste corporation. The project had received environment clearance in January, this year.
Panjim MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate pointed out that with the NGT now clearing the way; it should not take much time for Bainguinim plant to come up.
“I am confident, the Chief Minister and the Waste Management Minister will take up the plant at the earliest,” he said.
Cacora work underway
After much delay and judicial hurdles, the project, which was envisaged in 2013, finally kicked off on December 19, 2019, when the foundation stone for the project was laid.
The GWMC is in the process of setting up the 100 TPD plant, which is in line with the Saligao Waste Treatment Facility. The plant, which will handle waste across South Goa, will be completed by December 2021.
“The plant will take care of the entire South Goa waste. The way we have handled the North coast, the South coast will be also clean and managed well on the garbage front,” Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo said.
The cost of the plant has escalated by almost 30 per cent from the time it was first conceived in 2013. The project cost is Rs 189.99 crore.
High Court directions
Recently, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has issued notices to the sarpanchas and secretaries of 12 village panchayats for not taking steps to set up material recovery facilities for dry recyclable waste.
In its latest order, it has also directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), to issue notices to the sarpanch, deputy sarpanch and secretaries of 69 panchayats to show cause as to why action should not be taken for their removal under Section 50 (4) of the Panchayati Raj Act.
Despite these directions, the court found that 69 panchayats have not applied for any approval from GSPCB to set up material recovery facilities. Against this backdrop, the court stated that some action is warranted as it had warned panchayats in its previous orders.
The court, that is monitoring the State’s garbage management, has found that although the process is under way, it found response from the panchayats of Colva, Assagao and Calangute to be ‘quite poor’.
“For example, in Assagao, though the ‘safai’ volunteers had reported about 14 black spots, hardly 3 were cleared. Similarly, in Calangute, though 18 black spots were reported, hardly 6 were cleared; and in Colva 27 black spots were reported but hardly 1 was cleared,” the court observed.
Waste Management Minister Speaks
Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo says that during his one year tenure as the minister of the department, he has put many things in place.
He added that he has taken the State’s waste management as a challenge and he will complete the task.
“The 4.7 million m3 waste is not generated in one year. It has been a waste of decades. How can we expect the waste to go in a year?” he asked.
He further added that handling waste management is not an easy task and one cannot achieve it in one year or six months. He emphasised that it is a long process.
“The Goa government has taken a decision to remediate the existing dumpsites at various locations in Goa. Accordingly, the Goa Waste Management Corporation shall take steps for quantification and remediation of legacy waste. In order to confirm the quantity of the legacy waste to be remediated GWMC conducted drone survey,” said Lobo.
“Be it clearance for Saligao plant expansion; or getting the ball rolling for Bainguinim plant; or clearing cum remediation of legacy waste at Sada and Sonsodo; my department has worked day and night to make this happen,” the Minister explained.
In a concluding message aimed at his critics, Lobo stated that he does not mind anyone criticizing; but at the same time, one cannot ignore the facts and the works done in the last one year in waste management.
