PANAJI: The state-of-the-art garbage treatment and disposal plant promised on a 26,000 sq mt land in Taleigao by the Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate panel during the recent election to the Corporation of the City of Panaji for disposing the garbage generated in the city, now faces uncertainty due to the lack of communication between the panel and the government.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Urban Development Francis D’Souza however told ‘The Navhind Times’ that no such proposal has come from the CCP to the government.
St Cruz MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate had promised the Panaji voters that in the event of his panel coming to power at the city corporation, the 26,000 sq mt of land at Taleigao, which has been already notified as a garbage dump would be used for setting up a modern garbage treatment and disposal plant to dispose of the city garbage.
“The work for construction of the garbage treatment and disposal plant could start there immediately,” he had added. Subsequently, the ‘Babush’ panel had come to power at the city civic body.
City mayor Surendra Furtado told this daily that someone in the power is playing dirty politics and is creating obstructions for this project.
“The project of the CCP to construct a solid waste management plant at Bainguinim for disposing of the city garbage has already been delayed, while the upcoming facility behind Heera petrol pump in the city would only be a sorting centre and composting station,” he added, noting that the city badly needs a garbage treatment and disposal plant.
Furtado said the government is demanding transfer of the particular land at Taleigao, which belongs to the Taleigao village panchayat, to the CCP by stating that Taleigao is not a part of the corporation.
“If we wait for the process pertaining to transfer of land to be completed then it would take years together for the particular project to see the light of the day,” he observed, arguing that if Taleigao is not a part of the CCP then how did the government in the past allowed the CCP to foot the bill for building a wall around the garbage dump site at Taleigao.
Furthermore, the city mayor said the Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate had acceded to his request for dumping all the dry waste generated in Panaji at the garbage dump land in Taleigao, provided CCP was ready to invest Rs 50,000 for digging a pit for the purpose.
“A related proposal was given three months ago, and a request was made to hire a JCB machine for the purpose, however the concerned assistant engineer and the CCP commissioner held back the related file for three months, stating that the particular area falls under the Taleigao village panchayat,” he said, quipping that the same assistant engineer, a few year ago, had prepared an estimate worth lakhs of rupees to construct the compound wall for the same garbage site, conveniently forgetting that the area was under the jurisdiction of the panchayat.
The Deputy Chief Minister, however, stated that even though there was some talk about using the Taleigao land to set up a garbage treatment and disposal plant, there has been no such concrete proposal from the CCP to the government.
“I have received no such proposal,” he reiterated.