Panaji disallows Saligao, Calangute sewage tankers

Panaji: In retaliation for the Saligao waste treatment plant not accepting wet waste from Panaji and Taleigao, the Corporation of the City of Panaji on Wednesday sent back 28 sewage tankers from Calangute and Saligao at the Tonca sewage treatment plant on Wednesday.

“We accept 120 sewage tankers each day but they can’t accept two trucks of garbage ?” asked Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar.

“Keep your fighting and politics at your level and don’t put us into trouble because of your politics. We don’t know who has a hold over the plant, the minister Michael Lobo or MLA Jayesh Salgaonkar. We are suffering as a result of their politics,” he said, adding that Lobo had promised that waste from Panaji would be accepted. However, Madkaikar said he didn’t blame Lobo as he may not be aware of what’s happening at the plant.

Madkaikar appealed to chief minister Pramod Sawant to intervene to permit the Saligao plant to accept Panaji’s waste and also demanded a written assurance from the government that it would continue to accept waste from Panaji and Taleigao.

“If the plant continues to accept garbage from casinos, why are they troubling the public,” Madkaikar said. “The garbage we send is not only of Panaji, but is generated by tourists who visit on a daily basis, those who come to work here and those who visit hotels in the city.”

“We always had a barter system where they accept our waste and we accept their sewage, but after they stopped accepting our trucks we have lost patience. Despite Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate warning them, despite sending our trucks covered with plastic and with a tank to collect the leachate, they are stopping our trucks at the gate of the plant,” Madkaikar said.

CCP sends a large 10-tonne truck of wet waste, while the Taleigao panchayat sends a smaller 5-tonne truck to the Saligao plant on a daily basis.

Considering CCP’s Bainguinim plant is yet to see the light of day and the hurdles being brought by the Saligao waste treatment plant, CCP is working on a plan where it will not be dependent on the Saligao plant in future. “The commissioner is working on disposing waste within the corporation or Taleigao, but we will need at least four months to work this out,” he said.

He blamed Smart City for not giving priority to the issue of garbage. “So many crores have been brought in through Smart City, but that money is not being used where it is necessary, for the treatment of garbage. I blame Smart City as it should have given priority to the issue,” he said, also holding past politicians responsible for not making permanent arrangements for garbage.

“We will wait for another two days. If they are still not accepting our waste we will have no other option but to stop collecting door to door garbage,” Madkaikar said.