FREEDOM FROM GARBAGE IN GOA By Saturnino Rodrigues

Pollution has negative effects on human health. The effects will depend on the type of pollutant and how it is delivered. Solid waste, such as garbage or other waste that is thrown beside the road side, behind the house and into a landfill, can result in both air and water pollution. It is a sore to the eyes. It also pollutes the air with the smell of stench. Regardless of the type of pollution, its effects on people are almost always negative.

A Migrant Searching in Garbage

Air pollution can come from a number of sources. It can also be one of several types. Exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide can kill people. Long-term exposure to particulates is linked to a number of respiratory illnesses. Water pollution can come from a variety of sources, including industrial sources, agriculture or landfills. There are many forms of water pollution, each of which can have a different affect on humans. Solid waste is usually thought of as the garbage that goes into landfills. Solid waste can leach into water too. The other form of solid garbage is the mining rejects that flows into the fields and cause tremendous loss to the Goan farmers.

Refuse disposal is not rocket science, but it is not an easy endeavour either! It needs strategic thinking and planning and expertise. Until we go beyond the rhetoric, we will keep drowning in our own filth. The residents of the sprawling villages and towns of Goa, with its over 1.4 million people who dump refuse indiscriminately. Some defecate and urinate in open places. Goa is going to earn the name as one of the dirtiest place in the world. But the end is in no sight! We cannot continue to fold our hands and watch people desecrate our environment. Having laws has never been the problem in Goa, we have them a‘plenty, neither are tangible. The menance of garbage has brought in diseases in every corners of Goa, stink, stagnant water mixed with human excreta especially from the migrants housed by the Goans without proper sanitation facilities, to earn a few more Rupees has added to the woes of the Goans.

At least the Governor seems to have recognised the problem. Conveying his utmost concern to the State Government, Goa Governor S.S. Sidhu reckoned Goa's image as global tourism destination is getting sullied because of waste management problem. World Tourism Mart was also seized with this problem.

The Governor's words of concern came at a meeting with the Minister for Environment Aleixo Sequeira and officials of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Municipal and Panchayat Administration officials at Raj Bhavan, days ago. The Governor suggested to the officials to see the possibility whether strict checks could be introduced on the use of plastic on the lines of New Delhi. But who is going to bell the cat? Mr. Sequeira said the Government was thinking of steps to tackle garbage management at city and panchayat level. He pointed out that 80 per cent of garbage was biodegradable waste. Starred hotels had been instructed to have their own garbage treatment facilities. It is just another bla – bla from the Minister as usual. That was just another bluff as usual. The Minister himself owns high star hotels; I never heard anything from him that he is taking care of his own garbage.

But with all the noise the Governor is making…can we be hopeful? What role do we have to play ourselves? What is the use of building all the mansions when we step out unto heaps of refuse and pools of dirt? Can Goa be clean again? We can...if government wants us to. Make the laws stricter in terms of disposing garbage. Let every household be responsible for their own garbage rather than filling in plastic bags and flying it by road side. There is an increase in road accidents due to this menace as stray dogs and cattle are attracted to this refuse causing road obstructions and accidents.

Now this is something to take a note: Days ago, Margao police detained one Anthony D’Silva who hails from Velim spreading the "Freedom from garbage" message by seating on the benches of the Agakhan park, in front of the South Goa Collectorate building, Margao, to mark the Independence day.

D'Silva was released after several NGOs from Salcete took out a morcha to the police station. Margao town police inspector claimed that Anthony D'Silva was detained to avoid any law order problem. According to D’Silva, he was seating with the message to officials who were supposed to attend the function. It was for finding a solution for the plastic menace in Goa and that solution has to come from the higher authorities." He had put up posters with several slogans. One of the posters read 'God Gave Us Sunshine, God Gave Us Rains, U Give Us Freedom From Garbage, and Don’t Watch Goa Going Down The Drain'. Another poster appealed to the chief minister and public works department minister `Digambara Digambara Garbegichem Kitem Tori Kara, Churchill Churchill Ghal More Garbegiche Mill'. It is a shame for the Goa government to do this act as the person who was highlighting the issue was silenced by the use of force.

We have plastic bins in villages to collect the garbage those are located near the houses of the Panch Members or powerful politicians. Plastic and tyres are burnt in the open. The solution has to come from higher authorities, as money is required to install a garbage plant. If the question was of a few thousand rupees people would not have asked the government, they would have contributed to the same. Politicians are cooking up stories. its thermocol and plastic garbage," was the concern of D’Silva. According to him, he claimed that he is not associated with anybody and not with any group. It is a funny thing that police detains a person who wants to spread a message for a right cause. "By detaining him, police has taken away his freedom. These are activists for a cause but not terrorists.

In Goa, there was a ban on the use of plastic below 40 microns. However, there are some units manufacturing plastic bags of less than 40 microns with no checks on them. This is said to have added to the problem of agencies dealing with plastic menace.

Every day, you may read famous names like Sonsodo, Bainguinim, Joaquim Alemao, Fomento, Hyquip, MMC, PMC, etc. This is a daily routine for the press to publish but nothing happens on the issue. Political infighting, bribe and indecisions are the order of the day. Garbage is spread everywhere without a sight for solution. This is only to make us feel happy that the government is doing something concrete on the issue. We can just read and feel happy with no end results. Goa is slowly turning to be closer to Nigeria in terms of garbage and corruption. Garbage is managed by the respective governments all over the World except in India and a few more countries. Goa being a tourist attraction should have been a better and cleaner place. What attracts the tourist’s eye in Goa is garbage in particular, all over.

I myself have been managing my own garbage within the compound I stay in. For the last eight years, my home garbage including dry and wet, garden refuse, food and fish waste goes into the little incinerator that operates on kerosene burner. This was designed by me that burns all waste until nothing is left but ashes.

An incinerator is a unit or facility used to burn trash and other types of waste until it is reduced to ash. An incinerator is constructed of heavy, well-insulated materials, so that it does not give off extreme amounts of external heat. The high levels of heat are kept inside the furnace or unit so that the waste is burned quickly and efficiently. If the heat were allowed to escape, the waste would not burn as completely or as rapidly. The smoke or exhaust equivalent to the amount released by two Kadamba buses is released to the atmosphere by a four or six inch chimney that is raised high up in the atmosphere. An incinerator can dispose of an incredible amount of solid waste when utilized properly, which proves to many people that it is the most efficient waste disposal process. The total amount of fuel required to burn approximately 100 kgs of wet garbage one litre of kerosene in maximum ten minutes until turned to fine ash. Plastic should be segregated before the garbage is dumped for turning in a closed incinerator and the ash can be used for your home garden. Total cost to build one of their own comes to lesser than rupees ten thousand in an open space of one square meter.

Many of my good friends have built the same for their own use and I would encourage anyone who is interested. Let us be responsible for our own garbage rather than flinging it over the wall. The guidance is provided for free including physical help from self all over Goa if one is interested but not for commercial purpose. This is my vision, my dream to see if I could be of any use to keep Goa clean. I can be contacted by email at saturnino.rodrigues@gmail.com