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Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre (GDRC) Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------
Dumping Responsibility -
- Authorities ignore
earlier warnings
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It is the same old story: much like the residents of Curca and Saligao,
the villagers of Ucassaim have opposed dumping of garbage in their
village. Though the Serula communidade had given an NOC to the
Socorro panchayat to dump garbage at the Ucassaim hilltop, the
villagers did not allow the pick-up trucks to unload the garbage.
The residents apprehend the garbage will flow down the slope into
their village.
As the villagers of Curca and Saligao had seen in their cases,
those living on the slope of the Ucassaim hill fear they would
be badly affected. What has been most unfortunate is that the
government authorities did not take lessons from the Curca
and Saligao episodes, where people had revolted after the
government and civic authorities did not pay attention to their
justified objections: for example, water accumulated at the
dumping site seeped in the wells and contaminated them;
people had to live with the stench of the rotting garbage; and
were faced with the threat of waterborne diseases.
No doubt, the Socorro panchayat needs a place to dump its
garbage, and for this the Serula communidade has given it
2500 square metres of land. At the joint meeting of the sarpanchas
of both panchayats, the sarpanch of Socorro panchayat had come
out with an offer to construct a compound wall surrounding the
dumping site. But the point raised by the villagers of Ucassaim
can also not be ignored. They are apprehensive of a situation
that the Curca residents found themselves in repeating for them:
in Curca, the wall of dumping site had caved in resulting in
the overflow and seeping of water and rotten garbage into the village.
Certainly no one can find fault with their plea.
The dumping problem in Ucassaim is a clear manifestation of the
fact that the state government, the political executives and the
civic authorities have failed to take lessons from what happened
at Curca and other places. It would not be an exaggeration
to say that they have virtually decided to abandon their responsibilities
to find one or more suitable dumping sites for garbage.
Why have the authorities so far not identified a suitable place for
dumping the Socorro garbage?
The manner in which the government and the civic authorities
have been handling the problem of dumping garbage across the
state simply strengthens the view that they are insensitive to the
basic civic amenities for the people of the state. One wonders
how the authorities, who had promised the villagers of Curca
not to allow dumping of garbage in the vicinity of the village,
should have agreed to the proposal of the Socorro panchayat.
The problem of garbage disposal is integral to urbanisation.
And the problem of garbage disposal is becoming more acute
at a time when the political executives are contemplating to go
for faster urbanisation of the state.
It is really shocking to note that notwithstanding the passing
of an ambitious garbage control law in 1996, Goa and its
government are still unable to cope with the waste. The state
government at the directive of the High Court had also set up
a committee on January 7, 2000. But it appears in want of
political will, the state government and the civic authorities are
finding it difficult to find a sustainable solution to the
problem.
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Editorial
in The Navhind Times 8/05/06 page 10
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