Panchayat, MLA also against any move to enhance capacity or take garbage from elsewhere
Panchayat takes resolution to Oppose move
Goemkapronn desk
SALIGAO: Ever since Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and the Goa government gave an assurance in the High Court that 30 Metric Tonnes of garbage from Margao Municipality would be handled additionally by Saligao Waste Treatment Plant, there has been a storm brewing in the small picturesque village.
The locals have started speaking about the government planning to make Saligao a garbage capital and so on.
The development has come three years after the capacity of the Saligao plant was enhanced to 200 tonnes per day, which was equally opposed by Saligaokars.
Architect and Congress spokesperson Tulio de Sousa said Saligao’s worst fears are coming true now.
“As predicted by many and repeatedly said by us in the past, the Saligao garbage treatment plant will eventually treat garbage from North Goa to South Goa,” he said.
He added, “This present BJP government is accomplishing this mission of making Saligao the Garbage Capital of the state. Our worst fears coming true!”
Architect Dean D’Cruz, a resident of Saligao, said that the enhancing capacity could be a nightmare for the village, which is already facing the brunt of a foul stench every evening.
“The plant is already a failure. About 5-10 trucks are leaving the plant with unprocessed RDF for processing in Karnataka cement factories,” he explained.
D’Cruz stated that the plant, despite being replaced as it could not take mixed waste, cannot handle the waste coming in.
“All that it is doing is taking waste and sending it elsewhere; we do not know where,” he said.
Dean said heaps of unprocessed waste inside the plant compound for the last 10 years, which they call RDF.
“The court has ordered them to process that waste as it causes a foul smell every evening. Now, what would they do with the additional load if they cannot handle the current load?” he questioned.
Saligao Sarpanch Lucas Remedious said the entire panchayat is united on the issue.
“We will strongly oppose any move by the government to increase the capacity at the Saligao plant. The villagers are already facing problems; there is a stench, and people have health issues,” he said.
Remedious said the panchayat has already taken a resolution in this regard.
Gauging the pulse of the people, Saligao MLA Kedar Naik took a representation to our Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, on behalf of my constituents along with Sarpanch and panchayat members of our saligao constituency.
Naik said the delegation was regarding the issue of treating additional 30 tons of garbage from Sonsodo south Goa at the Saligao waste management plant, which reflected in newspapers.
“Our primary objective was to highlight the issues that the people of our constituency face due to the additional burden on the waste management plant…This plant has currently reached its maximum capacity,” Naik said.
He added, ” We are grateful to Chief Minister as he assured us that the issue will be resolved and on the request of the panchayats CM also assured that one more garbage truck will be delivered to our constituency for garbage collection.”
