Garbage woes - Unending

Goa has earned the distinction of being the hottest tourist spot of the country. We are thankfully also endowed with a culture and a social security which cannot be compared to the rest of India. So the tourists from the west tend to identify with Goa better then they do in other parts of India.

Goa has also got the best of roads and its villages are still green. The concrete jungles are still a threat but Goa and Goans are fighting their way through this. Hopefully we will win.

However it seems that Goa has a perennial problem of garbage disposal. There seems to be little or no effort from the government to improve upon its garbage collection and disposal system and till date old methods of disposal are being followed. Interestingly you will find that some ministers, officials and bureaucrats go on foreign trips every year in search of solutions for garbage disposal and management. But it seems that they only have the objective of a great holiday in mind and return as clueless as when they had left Goa. Probably they never even had the honesty of even visiting the topic abroad.

Surely a toothless and corrupt system is slowly but surely eroding Goa's resources and its capacity to deal with situations. Our politicians it seems are only interested in fillling their own coffers and bother the least about the welfare of Goa.

Some years back a company called " Hyquip" was given the task of garbage management and lakhs of rupees have been spent on them but till date they have done nothing and the money is still not returned. There seems to be no concrete will on the part of the government to deal with the garbage problem. There is however a will to enter into contracts with anybody and everybody when it involves money.

Who will take account of our leaders who do as they wish and spend public money without giving the public the benefit? These aare the very attitudes which give rise to organisations and protests. One of the prime reasons that mega projects are being opposed is because of the garbage problems. Without resolving the existing garbage woes the government is thrusting more residents on an already overburdened state.

So dont be surprised about mega projects being opposed. Such callousness on the part of the government needs to be opposed tooth and nail untill the government takes notice and acts.

Today technology has reached such levels that we can get the benefit of methods and systems to control, dispose and utilise garbage for a profit. But our leaders need to wake up from their slumber and show the will.

It seems that without their will we will have to enjoy the garbage! The fight in the meanwhile is on.

Love you Goa