Panchayats flunk at garbage management

Courtesy : HERALD GOA 13 May 2012

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PANJIM: Though panchayats are readying to seek villagers' votes, their report card on the prime civic duty of garbage collection and disposal sees most panchayat bodies flunk miserably. " It’s almost eight years since Directorate of Panchayats has been pursuing the issue of setting up of their waste treatment facilities with panchayat bodies. However, the results have been poor. The scheme introduced by the directorate offering Rs 50,000 for plastic collection has no takers among panchayats. Of the total 189 village panchayat bodies, just two-three panchayats have adequate waste treatment facility in place. Most panchayats are yet to initiate collection of garbage on regular basis within their respective jurisdiction even as collection of garbage is one of their prime civic duties. The panchayat bodies have been dragging their feet even as the Directorate of Panchayats has initiated schemes to offer them assistance in garbage collection and disposal. The directorate offers funds to acquire 3500 sq mts of land for setting up of a composting unit but most panchayats are still struggling to find suitable land. Just 20 panchayats have acquired land after getting approval from Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) while 70 panchayats are at various stages of acquiring land -- mainly getting approval of the GSPCB. “Delay in land acquisition has been mainly due to opposition by locals,” said Menino D’Souza, Director of Panchayat informed Herald. After the site has been located and if there’s no opposition from the locals, the panchayat can freely approach GSPCB to obtain an NOC. It is only after approval by GSPCB that the actual process of land acquisition can be started. Sometimes panchayats have to drop their plan to acquire a particular site if there’s no approval from GSPCB, and restart the entire exercise of looking for another site. This is one of the reasons why some panchayats have taken so long in acquiring land. The Directorate of Panchayat also offers assistance to panchayats to collect plastic within their jurisdiction. “Not many panchayats have started plastic collection. They have not even come forward to avail of the scheme,” said Director of Panchayats who is having it tough to make panchayats act on the garbage issue.

Garbage to be off Goa's beaches by September

2 May 2012 : Headlines India:

Plastic, waste and other forms of garbage will be off Goa's beaches by September says Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

"By September you won't see garbage on the beaches," Parrikar told reporters at the state secretariat. Goa's main tourism season begins in October and stretches through March. "By May 20, garbage and construction debris will be picked up by PWD (Public Works Department) from national highways and other roads. Goa has to look clean to the lakhs of tourists who come here," he said. He said several sites would be identified to dump the construction debris. Dumper trucks are used to surreptitiously dump along the roads, the waste of demolished homes and commercial structures which make way for new ones. Although illegal, the inability of successive governments to identify zones for the accumulation of such debris has only added to the problem of disposal of non-biodegradable waste. The absence of an effective mechanism to treat biodegradable waste in Goa has also reduced open areas, in its infrastructurally over-burdened coastal areas and towns, to virtual garbage pits.(IANS)