Panaji: Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said that the Saligao waste management facility risks collapse if the current pattern of misuse continues, with waste coming from municipalities and panchayats beyond the plant’s catchment area.Lobo met officials of the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) at the Saligao plant to demand immediate corrective action. He said that trash is being sent from Ponda and Old Goa to Saligao, generating a foul stench along the way, making life miserable for residents of Saligao, Nerul and Calangute.The MLA said such trucks with waste several days old should be turned away. He called for fines to be imposed on panchayats that send improperly maintained trucks that dump leachate and garbage along the road. “Send the trucks back home. Wet waste should be collected and sent on the same day,” he said.He said the plant, which serves 27 panchayats, was being treated as a free-for-all dumping ground by municipalities that have failed to invest in their own waste treatment infrastructure.“This plant will die if the way it is being operated continues,” Lobo said, adding that he had already spoken to chief minister Pramod Sawant about the situation. He urged the CM to take a more active role in the plant’s functioning and reconstitute the defunct monitoring committee. He said the committee should include sarpanches from Candolim, Pilerne, Calangute, Saligao, Nerul and other affected villages, and meet every 20 days.The MLA flagged the issue of waste accumulation in Mapusa’s Ganeshpuri area, where 100 tonnes of waste had piled up again despite an earlier clearance drive, and criticised the Ponda civic body for sending its waste to Saligao instead of building its own treatment facilities. “They should treat their own waste. They are taking this plant for granted,” he said.Lobo also highlighted the prolonged delay in setting up decentralised waste treatment plants in Verna and Bainguinim. “Five years on, they can’t even put the foundation stone for the Bainguinim plant,” he said.He made clear that the Saligao plant’s management must operate free of political pressure. “The MD should not come under any pressure from any MLA or minister to accept waste from other panchayats or municipalities,” he said.
