By Roque Dias
Margao: Official records state that there are 171 scrapyards of various sizes in South Goa, dealing in vehicles, home appliances and machinery. However, activists and residents of Salcete estimate the actual number to be between 400 and 450, with Vasco and Ponda having the highest concentration.
They alleged that the delay in formulating a scrapyard policy or designating scrapyard zones has led to the unchecked growth of scrapyards along roadsides and in interior locations across South Goa.
On July 24, 2023, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had assured the assembly that a scrapyard policy would be formulated within three months. However, the policy remains elusive, and the chief minister had admitted that scrapyards are operating unlawfully.
“Despite incidents involving deaths, blasts, fires, thefts and vector-borne diseases, scrapyards continue to increase in South Goa. It seems the scrapyard lobby is politically well-connected, which is why no action is taken. We keep hearing about the policy, but it remains only on paper,” said Fatorda resident Jose Fernandes, adding that scrapyards in his constituency continue to operate despite past tragedies.
During the recent assembly session, Minister for Waste Management, Science and Technology, and Revenue, Atanasio Monseratte said that the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) had endorsed the Advocate General’s (AG) recommendations regarding challenges in implementing the scrapyard policy and acquiring land.
The AG proposed amending Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) regulations to allow scrapyards to be allocated GIDC land. As a result, the government plans to revise GIDC regulations to accommodate scrapyards and recycling units.
GWMC initially sought to develop designated trade zones for recycling units by identifying government land for GIDC. However, policy constraints within GIDC prevented recycling units from being permitted in industrial estates under the March 2021 regulations. Following a meeting with ministers and GIDC chairman Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, a decision was made to identify more government land for scrapyards.
A GWMC-formed committee prioritised government land over comunidade or private land for acquisition, identifying a site in North Goa. The AG’s advice was sought on this matter, indicating that the policy is still in the procedural stage.
Whenever incidents like explosions, deaths, or fires occur at scrapyards, the government intensifies its response but loses focus once the urgency fades.
Former Town and Country Planning Minister and current legislator Vijai Sardesai had pledged to relocate scrapyards from his constituency within two years following the Gauliwadda-Fatorda scrapyard cylinder blast in December 2017. Similarly, former Chief Minister and current legislator Digambar Kamat had made similar promises after a scrapyard fire in Margao in 2011.
The demand to relocate scrapyards from residential areas resurfaced after a fatal LPG cylinder blast at a Fatorda scrapyard on January 10, 2023, but no action has been taken.
