If and when the state government, Margao municipality and respective MLAs succeed in the bio-remediation project at the Sonsodo dump a major milestone will be crossed, after a two-decade struggle.
The matter was discussed in the Assembly and Urban Development and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said efforts are underway to clear two decades old waste and more efforts are required.
In the first week of March, Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the High Court of Bombay at Goa that Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt Ltd, which had been awarded the contract had removed 98 per cent of the waste and that the remaining would be cleared in a week.
So, which version is true?
If what the advocate general told the court truly reflects the situation on the ground then the problem should have been solved before the Assembly session commenced and Rane should have announced this achievement. On the contrary, he said more efforts are required.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said the issue had snowballed into a disaster. Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco said the Margao municipality is not doing enough to address the issue. Margao MLA Digambar Kamat said the authorities should ensure that leachate does not flow during the monsoons.
Does anyone have a clear idea of what is happening at the Sonsodo dump? The inability of the government, municipality and affected MLAs to resolve this issue is a reflection of the quality of representatives that people elect to the state Assembly and local bodies.
The inability of the government, municipality and affected MLAs to resolve this issue is a reflection of the quality of representatives that people elect to the state Assembly and local bodies.
It is also a sad reflection on the quality of governance and the frustrating case of misplaced priorities. To add to this state of affairs, the municipality, government and MLAs tend to work at cross purposes. With lingering problems of this nature, Goa can hardly count as a progressive state and dreams, if any, of becoming a second Singapore went up in smoke a long time ago.
In this respect, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is streets ahead of the Goa government. Vijayawada is the second largest city in Andhra Pradesh with a population of 1.19 million. In 2010, two agencies in charge of treating waste packed their bags and left and in the years that followed the quantum of untreated waste rose to 3.05 lakh tonnes.
In 2017, Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited was entrusted with clearing the dump through remediation or biomining, as it is now known. The project was completed in two years as against the 20 years that the Goa government is taking to clear the Sonsodo dump.
Vadodara municipal corporation had 4.2 lakh tonnes of legacy waste which had accumulated over 40 years. Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited commenced work on it in July 2018 and cleared the site by December 2019.
Another striking example of efficiency is the dumpsite of the Vadodara municipal corporation. This site had 4.2 lakh tonnes of legacy waste which had accumulated over 40 years.
After the National Green Tribunal passed an order the corporation selected Zigma Global Environ Solutions Private Limited for the job. Work at the 14-acre site commenced in July 2018 and was completed in December 2019.
In the case of Vijayawada, 87 per cent of the waste was re-utilized, 47,200 tonnes of combustibles were sent to nearby cement plants for co-processing, 171,500 tonnes were recovered and used as earth-filling material and 276 tonnes were sent to the recycling industry.
At the end of 20 years, Goa is still struggling with legacy waste at Sonsodo. What explanation does one have for the lack of purpose on the part of our elected representatives? And why do we keep electing the same people when they cannot solve the problem? Or perhaps, we Goans are like that, only.