Margao council says no place for garbage disposal

Margao: At the Friday meeting of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC), several councillors made boisterous complaints about the municipality’s failure to lift dry waste generated after road cleaning and bush cutting. Chairperson Damodar Shirodkar threw up his hands, admitting that the municipality has no place to dispose of the dry waste.

This situation has arisen even after all its wet waste gets transported to a waste treatment plant at Cacora, as its treatment facility at Sonsoddo has been defunct for the last few years, and 60% of the dry waste landing at Sonsoddo is sent to a shed at the Nessai industrial estate.

Several councillors, including those from the ruling panel, told Shirodkar that after the roads are cleaned and overgrown vegetation cleared, the green waste is left at the roadsides waiting to be lifted by the municipality’s garbage trucks for days.

At this point, Shirodkar chose to give the councillors a piece of his mind. “Your problem is as much mine as it is yours. Scout for suitable land in your respective wards to dispose of dry waste,” he replied. Taking umbrage at a remark targeted against him by Shirodkar, Sushant Gadekar, a councillor from the ruling panel, charged towards the chair, prompting Shirodkar to adopt a conciliatory approach.

Another councillor from the ruling panel, Sagun Naik, criticised the council for failing to act on the recommendations of the Goa State Pollution Control Board on waste management at Sonsoddo, given during a presentation for councillors a couple of years ago.

“Dry waste has increased significantly in Margao even as the quantity of wet waste has decreased as segregated waste is now properly collected,” Shirodkar said, even as he promised to streamline the process.

At the meeting, the council gave its nod to the MMC’s proposal for setting up a hydraulic car park project, for handing over the other part of the municipal garden to the forest department for beautification and maintenance, and for setting up a wellness centre at Malbhat, among other initiatives.