BY PRADNYA GAONKAR

It is clear that the MMC is only interested in garbage as a money-making venture.

AFTER THE garbage crisis hit Panaji, now the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) is looking for a way out of the Sonsoddo garbage dump. The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 issued orders that the Margao Municipal Council should locate a landfill site to get rid of the garbage piling up at Sonsoddo, by the end of January 2010, failing which the MMC will be held in contempt of court. The High Court orders came in the wake of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Goa Foundation to issue directions to the MMC to treat the garbage mountain in Sonsoddo, which poses a grave health threat to nearby residents.

Sonsoddo currently holds waste accumalted for 40 years and the garbage heap continues to grow in height and has also spread along the marked area admeasuring 15,000 sq ms, extending from the hilly slope to the main road. Margao generates around 22 trucks - approximately 45 tonnes of mixed waste - everyday. This garbage is dumped at the Sonsoddo site. The pile has risen to such an extent that authorities have now been forced to hunt for a solution to treat the municipal waste. In the summer, the situation is aggravated as, due to high temperatures, the dry garbage self combusts.

KOMEX

THIS issue was taken up by the MMC, which appointed Komex India Pvt Limited. Komex set up a waste treatment plant in the area in 1998. They did not survive for long though and the MMC entrusted the job to Goa Foundation of which Claude Alvares is director. While in charge of Sonsoddo, Goa Foundation cleaned up the site, detoxified it on the surface, created a composting yard, prevented the entry of stray animals and prevented fires. The budget approved by the government of Goa to carry out this task was Rs. 25 lakhs, but the Goa Foundation spent a total amount of only Rs. 17 lakhs over a year-and-a-half. The rest of the money was allegedly ‘swallowed’ up by the Council or diverted to other works unconnected with Sonsoddo.

Goa Foundation affirms that only Chief Minister Digamber Kamat seemed to be interested in the project as he was the only one who inquired about and visited the site personally. Despite Goa Foundation’s effort to resolve the problem, Urban Development Minister Joaquim Alemao had grandiose plans of setting up a waste treatment plant by tendering it to private parties from outside Goa. The Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) was told to issue a tender to select a consultant who would advise it on the kind of plant that would be ideal for Sonsoddo. Mahabal Enviro Engineers Pvt Ltd from Thane, Mumbai, was hired as consultant, but their role made no difference to the garbage treatment as the Urban Development Minister remained indifferent. Hyquip Project Pvt Ltd was handed over the project in 2006, at the cost of Rs 7.84 crores - 15% percent higher than the estimated cost by the consultant, which was Rs. 6.33 crores.

However, the company was involved in a controversy and charges and counter charges over the payment of bills followed. When Hyquip left in 2008, Goa Foundation took charge once again. They signed a short-term MoU with the MMC for daily garbage treatment, with a long term understanding that it would also handle the landfill site. This, we understand, was mainly because of the concern shown by the Chief Minister. In the meanwhile, the cabinet appointed a five-member committee to monitor the landfill site. The committee agreed upon the deal with Goa Foundation and asked the MMC to go ahead with it. The government also sanctioned Rs 4.5 crores to get the work done. But the MMC insisted on a detailed report on the machinery that would be used during the project. The decision to award the project to the organisation was stalled for five months because of the wording of the cabinet note, which asked for codal procedures to be followed. It was not clear whether they would involve other parties also. But, in spite of the financial resources made available, the MMC was not willing to co-operate with Goa Foundation.

NON-COOPERATION

“THEY refused to accept our suggestions on how to make a landfill site and make space for treatment of waste. We were left with no alternative than to leave the site as we do not want to sit there without doing any work and unnecessarily charge the MMC. It is indeed frustrating when you want to work to find a solution for a problem, but the authorities themselves do not want the problem to be solved. Probably they love to live in the garbage,” laments Claude Alvares and further held the chief officer of the MMC, Y. Tawde, and the Urban Development Minister, Joaquim Alemao, responsible for the pathetic situation at Sonsoddo. Claude Alvares claims that some of the members of the five-member committee are concerned about solving the Sonsoddo issue, but have their hands tied because of pressure from the Urban Development ministry.

Goa Foundation planned to train the workers to handle garbage treatment, but the MMC refused to provide workers. “They asked for some solutions to spray on the garbage, but the MMC refused to sanction it,” inform sources. Goa Foundation had informed the MMC that they would leave the site on April 15 and the MMC was left with no option but to handle the site itself. Goa Foundation then approached the High Court, asking it to issue directions to the MMC to treat the garbage mountain.

The garbage that is dumped at the MMC is mixed garbage, without segregation. It includes medical waste - infected and discarded human body organs from surgeries, syringe bottles, market waste, hotel waste, dangerous industrial waste, etc. Workers at the site add that animals killed by motorists are also dumped here. Goa Foundation has warned that when the rain showers come in contact with garbage, it will get contaminated and seep into nearby public drains and water bodies. This, in turn, will pose a hazard to the general public.

Covering the garbage was a necessity and a technically planned drain needed to be constructed. Thus, the Court directed the MMC to cover the garbage with tarpaulin. The MMC, not known to work in haste, seemingly ignored the directions and, after the first showers, leachate entered a nearby drain. Although the older garbage is covered with tarpaulin, fresh garbage is left open for birds and stray dogs to feed on. The drain, which was supposed to be constructed before the rains, is not even one-fourth complete. The MMC hired another contractor to cover the garbage with tarpaulin costing Rs. 17 lakhs, while the drain was covered at a price of Rs. Seven lakhs, taking the total cost to Rs. 24 lakhs.

EXORBITANT

IT is surprising to note that the MMC did not think twice before spending lakhs of rupees on covering garbage with tarpaulin, yet refused Goa Foundation Rs. 10,000 in 2006 for filters. “The MMC did not even hesitate to pay Hyquip Rs. 65 lakhs, as transportation fees, to move their machinery. This was in return for undone work. It was a total loss,” says Claude Alvares. Although the MMC says that it is capable of handling the commercial capital’s garbage, circumstances do not support their claims. The plastic separator installed inside a shed built for the store room and other equipment, reportedly sponsored by the Fomento group, is left unused as there is no operator to do the work. Manually separating the waste would be a difficult task as the garbage has been constantly on fire and, recently, a small portion of the tarpaulin got burnt.

Sadly, workers handle the garbage with their bare hands and have not been given gloves or boots to protect them from the unhygienic conditions they work in. One can see worms and pests crawling in the leachate water and over the garbage. The Sanitary Inspector of MMC, Viraj Arabekar, informed Goan Observer that they cannot undertake door-to-door collection or promote segregation of waste as they do not have enough workers. According to Arabekar, the MMC has 100 odd workers who are involved in garbage collection and road-sweeping. They find it difficult to cater to the needs of Margao’s one lakh population.
He added that he had suggested an action plan to the MMC wherein he divided the city into five zones according to topography and road divisions. “But the action plan is still on paper and nothing has been done about it,” says Arabekar. It is difficult to operate the sieve as it can handle only a small amount of waste at a time and separating tonnes of garbage everyday is a tough job. Council sources reveal that the Fomento group has expressed its interest in handling the Sonsoddo garbage dump on a design, build, own, operate and transfer basis for a social cause.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that garbage is not so much a problem on its own, but has been made one thanks to continuous political interference in a bid to make money out of a civic issue.