Clean Goa is the call after clean GangaTNN | Jul 4, 2011, 12.09am IST
AHMEDABAD: A place is judged by its hygiene level for its cool quotient. Nature
has given Goa scenic spots in abundance, the waters, a lush green land, serene
views, et al. The Portuguese left behind some very cute buildings. But we have
not been able to handle it over a period of time. We have wasted an
opportunity. Blame it on ourselves, or blame it on tourists, the state's ugly
patches come up now and then as you drive through some of the most picturesque
spots.
There is garbage strewn all over the roadside. Suddenly, the ugly patches hit
you in the eye. As you drive through, you wonder who is responsible for this
mess. What will move our society and our panchayats to get their act together
and rid the stretches of garbage? Who is dumping there? Why no action? Who is
to bell the cat? A thought comes, why not we dump the garbage in the chief
minister's house and see if the authorities will take some action? Probably
then the municipalities and panchayats will go and collect it from there.
The state urgently requires garbage dump yards and garbage treatment plants
covering all locations. Garbage collection and segregation is an important task
of the civic agencies. There are several officials who are drawing huge
salaries from the public fund to ensure that this work is done properly. Goa is
a small state and should serve as a model state for the country to follow. If
we cannot, who else can? Why has it taken such a long time to identify
permanent garbage dumps in the state? Why is there no will among our
bureaucrats and babus down the line to set this problem right? The common
answer one finds from people in high society is that politicians do not have
the will. Is it only a politicians' responsibility? Is it not the right of the
citizens to fight for this issue? Politicians will act if they know that their
citizenry is having an issue with the garbage piling up. So, it's up to us
citizens to take on the government on the issue.
We do not have appropriate garbage dumps in the state. Look at what we have and
the problems associated with it. The Sonsoddo garbage dump in Margao has been
there for more than a decade. The Mapusa municipal council has been dumping
garbage at Assagao Plateau for more than a decade for want of an appropriate
place. It has turned into an eyesore on the picturesque Assagao Plateau. Panaji
has no dumping ground, so CCP has usurped the now non-functional quarry at
Taleigao plateau and made it its dump yard recently and is seeking to make it a
regular dump yard much to the consternation of the residents around.
In Vasco, Mormugao municipal council has a landfill and garbage treatment plant
at Bogda. But MPT complained last year that it causes a nuisance. They went to
court. The high court of Bombay at Goa has ruled that the garbage treatment
plant is fine, but has asked Mormugao municipal council to shift the landfill
to another location. So effectively, most areas of the state do not have
appropriate dump yards.
Many apartments have started coming up in Goa. But infrastructure to cater to
the increasing number of residential properties and flats is not in place. Even
the sewage pipelines and storm water drains are not going to be adequate to
cater to the future requirements of the state. It's time that the government
come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with these issues and implement them
quickly without waiting for too long. Already, National Institute of
Oceanography (NIO) has a report which has found that sewage being let out into
the river Zuari and river Mandovi has contaminated the waters and during
monsoons, many spots in the beaches are contaminated with E.coli, making it
unsafe.
It's time to clean up Goa, and so citizen forums too have an onus to fight.
