Bio-Methanol plants trapped in politics and delay
Every plan that the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) makes to solve the garbage problem of Margao comes with a rider. The latest plan of having bio-methanation plants have also taken various turns. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was recently heard assuring that his Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo is working closely with the departments to bring about the planned plants. However, the already delayed plants have got further delayed as Minister Michael Lobo said that the 7 Bio-methanation plants will be tendered after the civic body election. With the election itself pushed three months ahead, there is no chance now of having these plants at the Sonsoddo site to treat the garbage of Margao.
Sources from the Municipality claim that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) is aiming at utilizing the funds to the tune of at least Rs 40 crores lying with the municipality to tender the work of the 7 bio-methanation plants; the cost of which according to the Municipality, is much higher than that of the ones they have shortlisted.
Savio Coutinho of the Shadow Council of Margo (SCM), the informal opposition watchdog group, said “In spite of crores of rupees of resources fleeced from the public as sanitation fees, Margao continues to reel under the garbage menace”.
“It is now over a year since a segregated waste collection system has been introduced by MMC. However neither a single kilogram of compost has been derived from the wet waste, nor has the baling of the dry waste been effectively done, he added.
The situation at Sonsoddo, SGPDA market, and the old fish market is pathetic and has turned into a new health hazard for the public.
Enter and exit of Fomento
The fate of the dump, however, lies in the hands of the GWMC. It may be recalled that the tender for the existing plant at Sonsoddo was floated in 2010, when Savio Coutinho was the then Chairperson and the work order was issued in 2011 during the term of Sushila Naik, for a composting plant. The concession agreement between MMC and Fomento industries was signed in 2012. The concessionaire was given 16 months for completion of the entire project at Sonsoddo. The efficiency of the plant has reduced now and it cannot now take the quantum of waste it was planned for.
The High Power Coordination Committee (HPCC) with the Chief Minister as the head was also established in 2012. However, the entire essence of having allotted the work of treatment of garbage at Sonsoddo seems to have fizzled out after the geotechnical report of the Sonsoddo dump revealed that the garbage contained heavy metals, arsenic, lead, etc. which wasn’t suitable for composting. This is the time; Fomento industries gave the first blow to the Margao Municipality and handed over the dump back to MMC.
This happened even before the regular operations of the plant began at the site. Meanwhile in 2013, under the Council of Chairperson Arthur D’silva, the Fomento plant started on a trial basis supposedly treating daily waste. It was inaugurated in 2013 and has ever since been on a trial basis.
The only visible evidence of reduced garbage was when the Fatorda MLA was in power
Fatorda enjoyed the support of the Government after the 2017 elections and the political tables in the MMC too turned. Taking the advantage of his prominence in the Government, the Fatorda MLA and the then TCP & Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardessai, in April 2017, got a garbage screen at the Sonsoddo dump and in a matter of 1 and half months, managed to reduce the garbage dump by at least 16 to 20 thousand tonnes. This is the only successful attempt to clear the dump in the past decade.
Post that, it’s back to the dump for SOnsoddo. MMC has maintained that Fomento was only settling the waste inside the plant and dumping it into Sonsoddo without any treatment. Surprisingly, MMC has recently released payments to the tune of crore even as they know that the plant has been redundant ever since it began to function.
Handling and treatment of garbage remained a pipe dream even post Fomento’s exit
Ever since Fomento handed back the dump to the MMC, the work of treating garbage scientifically never took off in a proper manner. MMC, which is now locked in arbitration with the Fomento has recently attended the hearing at the Arbitration tribunal. The MMC has said that the Fomento had quoted and won the tender as a consortium of three various companies. Hence, the claim that has been placed before the Court as argued by the MMC has to come from all three companies and not just Fomento Green, the company formed by the consortium
Presently, the work of remediation of the dump is being done in addition to the treatment of the waste at the MMC in the old plant. The dump at the Sonsoddo is ever-increasing and to such an extent that the entrance roads to the plant too are blocked.
THE PRESENT SCENARIO- No suitable site to dump rejects
The remediation of the dump started two days ago. However, the Waste Management Department has not been able to find a suitable site to dump the reject derives coming from the dump. There have been challenges at every corner for MMC in handling the waste of Margao. The quantum of waste today has increased manifold; and the problem of garbage coming from villages on the sides seems to be unending. This extraordinary situation now demands an extraordinary solution, and if that doesn’t happen, then this issue will have a major impact on the election of the MMC.
To confirm the latest position, Herald spoke to the Chief Officer of MMC Agnelo Fernandes, who said “Financial bid has been already opened and the finalisation of the tender for the 3 bio-methanation plants at the cost of Rs 2.49 crore will be done soon. He also said that the tendering will be completed by next week. He further added that plants are necessary for MMC.
The Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo has been on record earlier that the work of having the bio-methanation plants set up at Sonsoddo is on track. However, he also added that there was no approval for the estimates of the proposal of GWMC, for the plants. Nonetheless, he still claims that the work is on track
Earlier the MMC had planned for a decentralized manner of waste treatment with plants at market places and also at Sonsoddo. The status quo of the plans of MMC however changes faster than a chameleon changes his colours while the people take a backseat.
