Roque Dias
Margao
The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) is under scrutiny for spending an average of Rs 43 lakh every month to manage approximately 50 tonne of daily waste, despite lacking a functional waste treatment plant at its Sonsoddo waste management site.
Citizens are questioning why the High-Power Coordination Committee and the government have not prioritised establishing a waste treatment plant at Sonsoddo itself.
This A-class municipality generates around 35 tonnes of wet waste daily, which is transported to the 100 tonnes-per-day capacity waste treatment facility at Cacora-Curchorem. This operation alone costs the council about Rs 12–13 lakh per month.
Of the 15 tonnes of dry waste produced, around 10 tonnes — mostly plastic — are intermittently transported to the same plant, while the remaining five tonnes are baled at Sonsoddo using MMC workers.
MMC also pays Rs 30 lakh per month to two private agencies for door-to-door waste collection across all 25 wards — Rs 50,000 per day each for Fatorda and Margao. This translates to nearly Rs 90,000 spent on collection and transportation for each tonne of waste.
Despite past efforts to resolve the long-standing Sonsoddo garbage crisis, the MMC’s ongoing dependence on the Cacora facility has raised concerns.
Though waste from the Sonsoddo dump is being removed regularly,
doubts persist about the sustainability of transporting waste nearly 30 km daily.
The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has repeatedly flagged the high expenses involved, strengthening the argument for a local plant.
“The cost of transporting our daily waste to Cacora is simply not viable in the long run. The MMC must invest in its own facility
and reduce dependency. If they act now on the proposed 25 TPD plant at Sonsoddo, it will significantly reduce costs,” said a former councillor.
A concerned citizen warned that civic costs may escalate further if proactive measures aren’t taken, potentially compromising both the MMC’s finances and Margao’s cleanliness.
The MMC has already spent a large amount of funds developing infrastructure at Sonsoddo, based on High Court directives and with the intent to repurpose the site for waste treatment. However, the facility remains underutilised while daily waste continues to be transported to Cacora.
MMC chairperson Damodar Shirodkar maintained that “everything goes smoothly at Sonsoddo and there are no waste management issues.”
Interestingly, MMC sources claimed the Cacora plant relies on Margao’s waste to function efficiently, suggesting a continued dependency that could have been avoided.
