27th July 2005
To, The Editor The Problem of Goas garbage is a matter of concern to us all. It is an issue that needs to be addressed intelligently, with many considerations. The Governments plans for Goas garbage is shortsighted and simplistic. They want to create a dumping site and settle this issue once and for all, in a hasty manner. Is a dumping site the only solution ? Is it fair to use two or three villages to solve a problem that will affect so many villages en route to the site ? As a concerned Colvalkar and proud Goan, I wish to remind every Goan that a dumping site at any village will entail : 1. Attracting pests like rodents, dogs, predatory birds, etc. 2. Medical and chemical waste will pollute not just the water levels but also the environment. 3. Cattle will loose grazing grounds and feed on plastic, chemicals and medical waste. 4. Every village will become a corridor for garbage trucks. Which means that a hotel in Calangute will take a road that passes Baga, Arpora, Assagao, Siolim, Camurlim and Colvale, to reach Tivim. Or the trucks will pass via Saligao, Arpora, Parra and Guirim before getting onto the NH 17 towards Tivim. Along the way, the trucks will emit odour and the villages also risk garbage flying off the trucks and into their homes or gardens. Careless or drunk drivers will dump garbage before the site in the rivers or valleys, at isolated village areas, during the night . 5. Our village roads are in no condition to take more load. In fact they are in a bad state and need repairs Not more vehicles on them please. For all these reasons, it is natural for the villagers at Curca to protest. They have been silent sufferers for too long. Instead of one or two sites, I propose the following : 1. Group two or three villages together to handle their own wet garbage with compost or vermiculture pits. 2. The Government should arrange for Vermicompost pits to be made at the crossroads of each vaddo. The villagers can maintain them with help from the Panchayat. 3. There should be a weekly collection of plastic and other dry garbage. The Government should arrange for the transport of this garbage to the nearest town or sorting center. 4. A contract to transport and convert this garbage should be awarded to a private company. 5. Effective Microorganisms (EM) liquid should be made available in all Panchayats and City Councils. If we solve our garbage in this manner, every Goan village will not only be clean but generate sufficient manure for our fields, fruit orchards and gardens. It will also stop the pollution and damage to roads caused by transporting garbage each day by so many trucks. Proper garbage management can convert garbage into profits. As we have done before, Colvalkars will protest and not permit a dumping site in the village or its environs. I am sure our neighbouring brethren in Siolim, Tivim, Camurlim, Revora, Cunchelim and other villages will support us since their villages will also suffer. It is time we Goans react to this abuse of the land and village life. I have seen Colvale become a highway, an industrial site with a power station that gives us no power. The population has hence increased (no fault of ours) resulting in the village being categorized as urban. This has made many old, poor families give up their telephone lines because the tariff was raised to urban status. After all this, a dumping site will be the last straw. I hope the Government has a dialogue with concerned citizens and seeks professional advice on how to handle the garbage problem. Handling this problem effectively will mean good PR for the Goa Government at a national level and ensure a greater support of the Goan people. After all, garbage is a national problem and Goa can do well to set a good example to the rest of the country. Wendell Rodricks Colvale
