By Marcellus D’Souza

Apr 13: The image of Goa has taken a beating in the recent past. Garage litters its pristine surroundings. Driving from Panjim, the capital city towards Bambolim is an eye soar. So is the road from Siolim to Mapusa, which is littered with garbage dumps. There are numerous other spots that need urgent attention of newly appointed Minister of Waste Management Atanasio Monserrate.

Visiting the Saligao solid waste management plant on Tuesday, Monserrate said, “There is no foul odour at the garbage plant but we get more garbage smell at the market places”. “The same technology used at the Saligao plant will be used for the upcoming garbage treatment plants across the state”, the minister asserted.
The facility will be based on recycling and sorting lines, segregation, bio-methanation and composting systems.

The first bidding process for the Rs 200 crore public-private partnership (PPP) project will be divided into two phases. The Request for Quotation (RFQ), eligible and prospective bidders will be shortlisted based upon the documents submitted and the Request for Proposal (RFP), the shortlisted bidder will be given the RFP.

Monserrate assured that the garbage issue would be resolved in two to five years. “The garbage issue will be a thing of the past in the villages after treatment plants come up at Curtorim, Verna and Bainguinim,” he said. “A fresh tender would be floated for a 250 TPD (tonne per day) state-of-the-art solid waste management plant at Bainguinim”.

“This will be the third time that the tender will be floated As most bidders failed to qualify, we have decided to float a new tender. The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) will move a file to the state government to float a third tender”. Monserrate said.

The Panaji Corporation acquired the over 1 lakh square metres Bainguinim land in 2008 and handed it over to GWMC in 2017. The capital city generates around 30 to 40 tons of wet waste daily as per the door to door collection. Of this, hardly 20 per cent of residential waste is treated at the garbage facility behind Heera petrol pump, which is slowly turning into a garbage dump, as all the waste is being dumped there, in absence of dedicated landfill site. Another five percent is at Patto plant and in Municipal market area.

The High Court in an order in 2020, directed CCP to clear the garbage from Campal parade ground and not to dump any waste there.
On the Sonsoddo issue, Monserrate said he will invite MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Digambar Kamat and Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco to solve the Sonsoddo garbage issue by holding a meeting at the Saligao garbage treatment facility.

Meanwhile, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has issued a notice to the contractor M/s. Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt. Ltd., returnable on April 27, in a case related to Sonsoddo garbage dump.

The High Court observed, “The records now placed before us indicate that from November 16, 2021 the work has not progressed at any satisfactory rate. Even as on March 1, 2022 the quantity of the remediated waste remains at 1,01,208. Advocate General however stated that the contractor has informed the Goa Waste Management Corporation that machinery has been mobilised and the work has also commenced. Having regard to the above circumstances, we think that it would be in public interest if the contractor M/s. Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt. Ltd. files an affidavit before us explaining its position and also giving us a proper timeline within which this work, which is now long overdue, will be completed.” The contractor should file an affidavit on or before April 22, the High Court said.