Summary:
Panaji: Replicating the Saligao solid waste treatment plant model across the state can help Goa achieve its ambitious target of eradicating landfills altogether. “We have sent the grit for analysis and I am confident reports will enable the use of the grit for land filling.”On an average, the Saligao plant receives 125-130 tonnes of garbage per day. During the segregation process, bales of inorganic waste are made and subsequently sold to vendors.The remainder is converted into methane, of which over 23 lakh cubic metres have been produced so far, generating power of over 27 lakh kilowatt-hour.The electricity generated by the plant works out to 7,000 units per day, of which 4,000 units are supplied to the electricity department’s grid. Of the 61,000 tonnes of mixed waste that the Saligao plant has accepted, just 5% remains as residue and even that will be used in road construction, managing director of the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation, Sanjit Rodrigues, said.The fully automated facility accepts 12 different kinds of waste — including plastic, glass, metal and Styrofoam - from 109 different villages.“Till date, we have treated 61,000 tonnes of waste and all that remains is inert grit of 3,200 tonnes, which is a minuscule amount,” Rodrigues told TOI. Compost is sold at Rs 4 per kg.Any water derived from the treatment process is also recycled at the facility’s effluent treatment plant and then used for gardening and non-drinking purposes.Though the plant primarily caters to mixed garbage from villages along North Goa’s coastal belt such as Candolim, Calangute, Arambol and Arpora-Nagoa, it also handles waste from the far off villages of Pirna in Bardez and Panchwadi in Ponda.The government plans to set up similar plants at Verna, Cacora and Bainguinim to address garbage dumps that have mushroomed across the state.Unsegregated solid waste has proved a bane for the tourism dependent state and chief minister Manohar Parrikar has vouched to make Goa garbage-free by 2020 through an integrated approach to waste management..