Don’t oppose waste treatment plant, Lobo appeals to NGOsTNN | May 28, 2015, 02.05 AM IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Dont-oppose-waste-treatment-plant-Lobo-appeals-to-NGOs/articleshow/47449663.cms Calangute: Calangute MLA Michael Lobo has appealed to NGOs to not hinder the work on the solid waste management plant being constructed atop the Calangute plateau. Briefing mediapersons at the site on Wednesday morning, he said the Saligao civic and consumer forum along with the Goa Foundation have filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), claiming that the plant would lead to the pollution of the Salmona spring. "Garbage is being dumped in an old stone quarry for over 20 years and the Salmona spring water has already been contaminated by the leachates from the garbage. This garbage treatment plant will help solve the problem as garbage will no longer be dumped there. It will be scientifically treated," Lobo said. Suhas Kulkarni, project engineer at the plant said the project being built by SMC consultants, would be the most modern in the country. "It is a state-of-the-art facility and will be fully automated. Work is going on schedule and we expect to start functioning by February 2015," he said. Work on the plant, being built at a cost of 150 crore, had started in November last year. Though the Saligao civic and consumer forum along with the Goa Foundation had filed a petition in the NGT, challenging the selection of the site for the plant, the NGT had declined to grant a stay on the work. The project is being built a couple of hundred meters away from the old garbage dump. "Garbage is being dumped along roads, in ponds, lakes, nullahs, rivers and in jungles all over Goa. If we don't build this plant, then the garbage problem in Goa will never be solved. I request the NGOs to refrain from opposing this. Where are we going to get another site? There is already around 10,000 tonnes of garbage which has been dumped over the years in the abandoned quarry which has polluted the Salmona spring. Will keeping the garbage dump as it is solve that problem or is it the garbage treatment plant which will solve the problem?" Lobo queried. SMC Consultants are building the project on 'design, build, operate, transfer' basis, and will operate the plant for 10 years at no cost to the state government. Though it is designed to handle 100 tonnes a day, the capacity can be expanded, Kulkarni said. -- P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter: @fn Facebook: fredericknoronha Goa,1556 Shared Content at archive.org https://archive.org/details/goa1556 -- -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Saligao-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
