Now BJP insists on garbage treatment plants
PTI, PANAJI | 19 March 2012 23:27 IST
Francis D'Souza
The BJP-led Goa government will be asking the local civic bodies to treat the garbage within their jurisdiction, by installing treatment plants, which will help in reducing heaps of waste across the state.
State Urban Development Minister Francis D'Souza told PTI today that the garbage problems needs to be tackled on a priority basis as the waste heaps have touched menacing proportions in the coastal state.
There are 13 civic bodies in Goa.
"We will insist that municipalities should take up the task of setting up treatment plants, so that the garbage generated within their limit, can be treated there," said D'Souza, who was given the Urban Development portfolio last week.
"Wherever it is not possible for the municipalities to set up the plants, the units can be located in the areas marked for the industries," D'Souza said.
"The concept of garbage treatment as an industry has to be understood," the minister said adding that local people would be taken into confidence, before zeroing in on any landfill or garbage treatment site.
In the past, Goa has witnessed several protests over garbage treatment sites at various places.
The Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP), which mends the capital city of Goa, had identified a site near Old Goa for a waste treatment plant.
However, the proposal is kept on hold, owing to the stiff opposition from the locals.
However, the minister says no decision would be taken without taking the locals into confidence.
"We will try to work within a timeframe and set up these plants as soon as possible," he said.
BJP, in its election manifesto, had assured to solve the problem of plastic-garbage, lying along the roads, within three months and drive the menace away from Goa within three years.
