Abdul Wahab Khan
Panaji: Exposing a huge lag in rural waste management infrastructure, the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has found that a mere six out of the 191 village panchayats in the state possess a permanent, operational Material Recovery Facility (MRF) with its valid permissions.
The revelation is a result of statewide inspections carried out by the GSPCB under a suo motu writ petition wherein the High Court of Bombay at Goa previously lambasted the local bodies for prioritising construction permits over ecological accountability.
The findings placed before the GSPCB during its 164th meeting identify only a group of six panchayats – Assanora, Bhati, Calangute, Candolim, Penha De Franca, and Uguem – as having maintained permanent, operational facilities with all the necessary legal clearances. For the vast majority of the panchayats, the infrastructure remains either unauthorised or temporary.
The data reveals that 95 panchayats have established permanent operational MRFs but have failed to obtain the mandatory permission from GSPCB.
Further, eight panchayats possess permanent structures that remain entirely non-operational.
Reliance on stop-gap measures remains high across the state’s rural landscape. The audit found that 67 panchayats are currently operating temporary MRFs, while eight other panchayats have a temporary set-up that is completely non-functional. The report confirms that seven village panchayats have failed to construct any form of Material Recovery Facility to date.
In response to these lapses, the GSPCB issued directions on November 17, 2025, ordering the panchayats with temporary or non-functional units to construct permanent facilities and seek legal authorisation. However, only 74 panchayats have submitted replies to the pollution control board’s directives so far.
The GSPCB’s audit was triggered by an order of the High Court, dated April 22, 2024, wherein the court observed that while the panchayats were in an “overdrive” while granting building permissions, they remained “tardy” in implementing waste management rules. The court warned that if the local bodies continued to ignore their statutory duties, it may consider restraining them from issuing fresh construction permissions.
Officials of GSPCB subsequently inspected every village panchayat to verify the operational status of the MRFs and the panchayats’ compliance with environmental norms. The GSPCB has now resolved to apprise the High Court of this non-compliance.
