On Monday, 28th November, the Chairperson of the Goa Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Peter Floriano Borges, wrote a letter to the Managing Director of the Solid Waste Management Corporation, and the Block Development Officer, Salcette, seeking an action report on garbage dumping near Dr KB Hedgewar Vidyalaya.
The letter mentions that the GSCPCR has taken Suo-motu cognizance of the news report on Heraldo, dated 9th October 2022 on the garbage dumping, near Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyalaya causing severe hardships and health issues to the students studying in the school and conducted an inspection.
“The indiscriminate dumping of garbage close to the vicinity of Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyalaya at Davorlim poses serious health hazards to the students. A number of chicken shops from the vicinity have also dumped their organic waste into recyclable waste, which has remained uncollected”, the letter reads.
The letter further states that the situation has worsened now, since the local administration, including the Solid Waste Management Corporation, which has a facility installed at the site, has failed to remove the garbage for around the past three weeks with foul smell emanating from the rotting garbage. It is also understood from the inspection that the area is an intersection of three village panchayats, i.e., Maina Curtorim, Davorlim-Dicarpale and San Jose De Areal and the residents from all the panchayats have been dumping their household garbage, pointing out to inefficient handling of door-to- door garbage collections in these panchayats.
It has been added how the unbearable odor emanating from the site can contribute to greater occurrence of sicknesses such as malaria, asthma and skins infections among students who travel to the school. Along with highlighting the problems at the site in question, the Commission has also, at the end of the letter, enlisted a number of solutions to the matter of concern, and has suggested that the Solid Waste Management Corporation should immediately clear off the garbage at the site, including the garbage scattered in the surrounding of the facility within two days of the receipt of the report.
And the Block Development Officer, Salcette should convene a joint meeting of the three panchayats, i.e., Maina Curtorim, Davorlim-Dicarpale and San Jose De Areal. and Solid Waste Management Corporation and arrive at a permanent solution to the garbage handling at the site and send the minutes reflecting actions proposed to the Commission. The Commission has also asked both the concerned authorities to submit the compliance reports by 15th December, 2022.
