Fire in the Mountain……Run or Act

1st published in the Heraldo Jun 19

Mount Sonsoddo was on fire……..run run run. With the smoke creating health issues for the residents around the dump forcing them to leave home and heath for a few days or delaying the opening of the school nearby. These measures are temporary and have no connection to the future of the dump. Surely it is not time to run but ACT and the action must be both from citizen and Government. The latter usually acts in the self interest of the decision makers and hopefully this time it will be different and not indifferent.

The fire self ignited itself or the dump was set on fire has not been investigated and from the reports there is no attempt being made to get to the root cause, it seems to be buried under the piles of mud used to snuff out the fire. One hopes that there is no scam in the short tenders that would have been raised to buy the special chemical which seemed  to have not effect but was used because it was purchased and the mud that finally covered everything including the cause.

In the Capital city we have an alarming situation where they too have nowhere to send their waste. A quick fix waste handling plant is being proposed within two weeks, Wow is it so easy? If yes why not have these plants in every panchayat?

This fire and shortage of treatment facilities has created an awareness that something needs to be done urgently. Formento’s quickly took the opportunity to offer to quit running the plant based on the fact that segregated garbage was not delivered by the Municipality. Collecting unsegregated waste is illegal as per the rules currently in force.

If we wait for the Government to act we will surely see this problem explode. The smell post the burning may have effected people around a small radius, so it will be easy for many to say, this is not in my backyard, I have to do nothing. Wrong. It is high time every individual living around Mt. Sonsoddo or anywhere in Goa has to act. The usual question is “I am just one person how can I contribute to tackling the garbage problem surely it is the Governments job”.

In Panaji they collect only segregated waste and now the Margao Municipal Council is insisting on the same, it is high time every one in Goa does the same. The most important factor is segregation at source. There is no solution on earth that can take all types of mixed waste and handle it efficiently. Mt. Sonssodo is loaded with toxic chemicals from batteries and medical waste, the rains will send this poison into the ground where it will further contaminate the already contaminated ground water.

Clinton Vaz an eco warrior and we need many more like him, has shown it is possible to segregate using a 4 or 8 bin system successfully. It may not be possible for individual houses to have a 4 bin system immediately but they can still collect the waste separately so that rag pickers or recyclers can have easy access to the same.

Housing Societies can come together and mark an area where such segregated recyclable waste is collected in the 4 Bin system, so that it makes economic sense for the recyclers to collect. The watchman can be given the duty of managing the area and the incentive can be that they keep the proceeds from the the sale of the material. The first bin is for “paper”, the second bin for “plastic packaging/bags”, the third bin for Hard plastic/Glass & plastic bottles and the fourth bin for non recyclables i.e. chip packets, styroform. The society can decide if they want to monetise or allow the rag pickers to take the waste. The fourth bin with non recyclables can be easily collected by the Corporation and since all is sorted it is easy to treat.

The wet waste can be directly sent to treatment plants like Saligao or Sonsoddo and this will reduce the load of sorting at the plant. Wet waste where possible should be composted and the compost used in the kitchen gardens and for potting plants. Again composting is easy be it an individual residence or a block of residences. However for groups one should have someone monitoring the compost pit, usually the building watchman. The reason is that compost pits can smell pretty badly if not taken care of or when they are overloaded and that defeats the purpose and soon the residents give up. These actions will reduce the burden of the huge load on the waste management centres and surely effect the growing height of Mt. Sonsoddo, or any similar mountains of waste in the making. We cannot generate waste irresponsibly and expect Government to handle.

The Green Goa Works was managing the Margao SGPDA market waste for sometime, they managed to segregate and send 1MT of wet waste to the bio gas plant and the methane so generated was used by a nearby hotel. One wonders what happened to this experiment. If it was working then similar experiments must be done for other large commercial areas.

The Government on its part should strengthen the waste treatment plants, set up centres for collection of hazardous waste viz: batteries, CFL bulbs e-waste, collection and disposal of bio medical waste. The other important factor is awareness that should be created using a carrot and stick approach. The stick should be wielded quickly on people who dump unsegregated waste of the roads and heavy penalties and confiscation of vehicles so used will act as a deterrent.

Let every citizen join the battle against waste and let our leaders see the big picture and make decisions knowing full well that these actions will have an effect on everyone’s future: OUR CHILDREN.