Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Mapusa council caught in garbage mess, dumps waste along national highway ------------------------------------------------------------ The ticklish garbage issue has reared its ugly head once again and Mapusa Municipal Council can blame no one but itself for delay in finding a suitable site of its own.Having no place to do away with its waste, Mapusa Municipal Council are now dumping the city garbage on the east side of the national highway (between Mapusa-Bastora junction and Camarcazan).
The unsegregated garbage which includes rotten vegetable, fish and medical waste is being dumped on the side of the highway for the last fortnight. Having had to put up with the nauseating smell, motorists using the road are now facing another problem cattle and dogs are slowly making their way towards the area.
At present no residents have complained but a hotel which is located a few metres off the highway, has to apparently face the brunt of the stink.Meanwhile, sources disclosed that PWD Executive Engineer has written to the Mapusa Municipal Council to stop dumping garbage on the highway.
When contacted Executive Engineer U P Parsekar (Highways) affirmed that his department had written to MMC requesting them to stop doing so. Sounding a little unconvincing Chairperson Sudhir Kandolkar on Sunday told this correspondent that the garbage will be re-routed to its earlier site, Curca, from Monday onwards.
He also said that he along with the Law Minister and Mapusa MLA, Francisco D'Souza would meet Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar tonight, to find early solution to the problem. "The Curca site is overfull and the authorities there were in the process of shifting the garbage, to reorganise and make more space," Mr Kandolkar said.
"They had requested us to stop dumping garbage for a few days. We will resume transporting the garbage back to Curca from Monday onwards," he added. To control the smell and related hindrances on the highway dump, the municipality was treating the garbage with "medicine" and also put mud on the garbage, Mr Kandolkar said.
The Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panaji, Sanjit Rodrigues said, "We needed sometime to work on the pit. "The Curca pit is overflowing. We have pressed some bulldozers into action, to push the garbage further and get the dumping system a little more organised," he added.
Mr Rodrigues further disclosed that as a special arrangement, Mapusa Municipal Council was given temporary permission to dump garbage at Curca, until they found an alternative site of its own.
He further revealed that the Panjim garbage dumped at Curca was segregated, while the garbage from Mapusa came unsegregated which also included medical waste.The garbage from both Panjim and Mapusa was taking a heavy toll on the Curca site, Mr Rodrigues opined and expressed concern as the site was fast reaching a saturation point.
With government working on a plan of setting up garbage treatment plants one in the North and the other in South the garbage problem will hopefully soon be sorted out, Mr Rodrigues averred.
Mapusa produces around 14 trucks of garbage per day according to the chairperson. Besides garbage from the market and the hotels in the city, medical waste and garbage from around 200 dust-bins from 13 wards in the city, add up to a sizeable amount of garbage in Mapusa.
The chairperson further informed that during the fortnight he made an unsuccessful attempt to request one Mr Rane from Bicholim to allow him to dump garbage on temporary basis. "I even visited a stone quarry at Tivim," he said.Sympathising with his colleagues former chairperson and councillor, Michael Carrasco said that there was no point in blaming the council for the mess it is in.
"The only alternative before the Council now is to be self-reliant," Mr Carrasco said and added that "MMC should immediately select a site and build a garbage treatment plant." "Till then, the Council should find an alternative site to dump the garbage," he added. He suggested that the Council could select the same site at the Mapusa Housing Board, where it dumped garbage for years, and build a treatment plant there.
When pointed out that it was at the instance of the housing board residents that the garbage dumping site was shifted, Mr Carrasco argued that he is suggesting building a treatment plant and not dumping garbage. In any case MMC was dumping garbage near the housing board site much before the colony came up over there, Mr Carrasco disclosed. -------------------------- HERALD 14/7/03 -------------------------
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