GARBAGE PROBLEM IN GOA

Group 2

Lyanti 08-10

Enoshca 08-37

Rita 08-33

Jonathan 08-02

Shakilla 08-12

Anilla 08-17

Introduction:

There was time around 30 years back one couldn’t see waste thrown on streets, Goa was clean and green. Suddenly from the year 2000 the garbage is become a hot topic in the newspapers. Not only a hot topic to read but also we get to see a lot of garbage thrown on streets. Slowly Goa is losing its image as a tourist destination.

According to the Garbage act the definition of waste Garbage/waste means all types of garbage/waste including biodegradable garbage, non-biodegradable garbage, bio-medical/clinical waste as well as commodities, such as no biodegradable plastic bags/packaging.

Types of garbage

Residential/Municipal – this is the waste generated from market places, the street sweeping and other residential waste. It includes both wet as well as dry waste.

Bio – medical- This waste is mostly generated by the hospitals. The hospitals are suppose to have their own treatment plants to treat the waste because this waste cannot be mixed with the normal municipal waste as it might contain hazardous chemicals and toxic materials.

Construction waste- Since Goa has seen a lot of urbanization the real estate sector is really doing well. Though the sector is providing housing solutions at the same time a lot earth is dug which is dumped in the fields.

Mining waste- Mining is the backbone of Goa, but at the same time it’s a devil which is rising. The mining waste is also dumped in the paddy fields which reduces the fertility and further creates problems for the farmers.

E- waste- As the generation changes, gadgets also change and become obsolete. So the e- waste is also raising its ugly head.

Components of Garbage

The garbage or the waste generated has the following components in the following proportion

Organic waste – 60%

Plastic waste - 20%

Paper waste – 10%

Textile waste – 3%

Tiles &Ceramics – 3%

Metals – 3%

Silt ash – 1%

Causes of garbage:

Due to the increase in population and urbanization people are shifting from villages to cities and therefore the garbage is on an increase.

There is also increase in income and standard of living and in turn increase in consumption, this leads to increase in plastic bottles and chip packets etc.

Goa is a famous tourist destination and has a lot of tourists coming to visit. They contribute to about 1 kg/tourist/day and there are about 2 million tourist visiting Goa.

The industrialization/hotels that have come up in recent year also contribute to garbage.

Another major problem that is posing garbage as a threat to Goa is segregation. The waste generated from the households in Goa is not segregated from the time is produced and this causes a problem to recycle the garbage.

The people are also not aware about the ways to manage the waste generated.

Strict environmental laws are also not enforced.

Consequences:

Overflowing garbage – Since the garbage is increasing day by day the bins which are kept are overflowing and this litters the surrounding. People also sometimes feel dirty to open the garbage bins so they just throw the waste on the roads.

Bad image as tourist destination – The beaches are littered, most of the public places are also littered. So this creates a bad impression about Goa.

Air pollution due to burning plastic- Most of the people still follow the practice of burning of plastic with the other waste. Plastic does not get burnt and decamped like other organic waste. It also creates pollution by releasing harmful gases.

Foul smell causing problem to the residents – The garbage dumping sites like sonsodo has created problems for the local people. The foul smell spreads everywhere which gets carried away with wind.

Spreading diseases – During monsoons the lichens from the dumping site get flowed in the water sources contaminating the water. Even offshore casino’s release a lot of

sewage which contaminates the water and this spreads diseases like diarrhea, Jaundice etc.

Drainage blocked – During monsoons another problem which occurs are drainages getting blocked because of the dumping of garbage, especially plastic.

Some of the official dumping sites of garbage in Goa are Sonsodo for Margao, Curca for Panjim, Tollem – Bandbag for Ponda and Headland sada for Vasco. More sites are proposed by the Government but there is opposition from the local residents. Some of these sites have waste treatment plants. Like the Vasco MLA has asked the Government to provide funds for up gradation of the existing facilities. Sonsodo site is now taken over by Fomento Ltd and they have planned to build and operate a MSW plant and also build a road inside the site. Around 50 tonnes of waste is dumped everyday at the Sonsodo site.Since Fomento does have much expertise in this field it is taking help from Agency Envirex Pvt. Ltd. Fomento has taken up this issue as CSR activity. Before Fomento Ltd the site was looked after by Hyquip a Hyderbad based company, but the contarct was terminated in 2008 because of the failure of meeting the deadlines.

Goa Foundation

This is environmentalist group which works for environmental related issues. In 2003 with the help of the department of Science and Technology and Environment, the Goa Foundation has coming up with Earthworm bins. The specifications are been given to the panchayats and other Municipalities to implement these Vermi composting units. In fact 4 Municipalities have already implemented and The Taj Hotel near Fort Aguada is the only hotel to implement the vermi composting unit.

Rules and regulations

MSW (Management & Handling) Rules 2000 came in force on 3rd October 2000. The rules apply to every Municipal Authority and the Municipal Authority is responsible for:

Collection, Segregation, Storage, Transportation, Processing,Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste generated within their jurisdiction.

Out of the 14 Municipal authorities only are actually following these rules.

Government steps

Hotels given strict guidelines- The hotel are given guidelines to keep their surroundings clean around 1 km from the hotel.

Placing of boards near public places- There are various boards put up on public places like beaches and parks to keep the place clean.

Providing Municipal dustbins- The Municipal is providing dustbins in all the public places so that the place is not littered with garbage.

Mapusa door – to – door collection of waste- The Mapusa Municipal Council had taken initiative to go door to door collecting garbage and collect Re.1 per house, they even thought of including it as an annual house tax but they have not succeeded as the place is still littered with garbage.

Introduction of Compactor trucks- Most of the municipalities have hydraulic compactor trucks. The MMC has 6 compactor trucks to collect the garbage. These trucks lift the bins so the workers do not have to do it manually. But the trucks are in a very unhygienic state.

Spraying of pesticides- There is spraying of pesticides at the dumping sites to prevent disease and the odour.

Organic waste converter- This was to tackle wet garbage, it is to be given to the village panchayats. It costs around Rs. 7 lakh to install it and the space required is 50 sq mts.

Up gradation of existing waste treatment plants- This was done in Vasco, Mormugao Municipal Council appointed the consultant for the project and the Government sanctioned the project of Rs. 4 crores

The Government is signing more contracts to treat MSW.

The amount of waste generated by the households (2000) in Goa is given in the following table:

Name of Municipal Council

No. of Households Population

Total waste generated

Panaji 14,924 69,790 50 T

Mapusa 8,952 40,487 24 T

Pernem 1,148 5,289 0.5 T

Ponda 4,122 17,713 6 T

Valpoi 1,609 7,917 3 T.

Bicholim 3,211 14,913 3.75 T

Margao 17,708 78,382 40 M.T

Mormugao 19,045 97,154 25 T

Quepem 2,863 12,573 2.50 MT

Cacora- Curchorem

4,851 21,407 6.0 M.T

Canacona 2,555 11,901 0.75 T

Cuncolim 3,679 15,860 4.8 T

Sanguem 1,378 6,173 3 T

Rules and Regulations:

Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2000:

This rule applies to all Municipal Authorities who are responsible for the collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of the municipal waste.

Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 1989, amended in 2003:

Goa does not have a Common Treatment and Disposal Facility for Hazardous waste. The state has to develop such a facility if the Hazardous waste generated exceeds 20,000 Metric tons. The Chairman of Goa State Pollution Control Board has taken the initiative to obtain permission from the Government of Maharashtra to treat and dispose the hazardous waste generated in State of Goa. A proposal to setup a plant for the same has also been initiated. Total Hazardous waste generated as on 5th August 2005 is 9600.94 Metric tons.

The bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules 1998, amended in 2000:

The ‘Occupier’ is the person in charge of the Institution. He is required to get authorization for handling of Bio-medical waste from the State Pollution Control Board. This authorization is valid only for 3 years, then the occupier needs to apply for renewal. The annual report should be submitted by the occupier by 30th January every year giving the details of the quantity and the mode of treatment of Bio-medical waste generated by the institution.

After the amendment in 2000 the responsibility has been laid on local municipal authorities for providing suitable common disposal/ incineration site for the disposal of the bio-medical waste.

Suggestions from the group:

No dustbins should be kept in villages as to encourage people to dig pits in their own yard.

Awareness should be spread on segregating the waste.

Seminars should be conducted to educate people, by the councilors

o For example 2 colored bins are been kept for dry and wet waste but people are not aware.

Municipal workers should be given higher salaries.

Municipal workers should be given gloves, boots and masks

Restrict the use of plastic in local shop