Sonsoddo plant runs smoothly, but Margao black spots persist

Margao: A month after it was inaugurated with much fanfare, the gasification-based waste treatment plant at Sonsoddo is functioning without hiccups — yet the garbage black spots that scar Margao’s roads remain stubbornly in place.

The 10 TPD (tonne per day) plant, inaugurated by chief minister Pramod Sawant on April 23, is currently treating 10 tonnes of dry mixed waste daily through two gasifiers, with each cycle taking approximately eight hours. A useful byproduct of the process — fly ash — is available to be converted into bricks, offering an avenue for resource recovery.

Margao Municipal Council officials said the plant has so far been working smoothly and is expected, over time, to address nearly 90% of the city’s dry waste problem by enabling bulk processing at a single location — potentially eliminating the garbage black spots that have long been a civic eyesore. But for now, the impact on the ground remains invisible. “It’s too early to say that black spots have been reduced since the plant started functioning,” an official acknowledged.

MMC officials said only a part of the total dry waste generated in Margao currently reaches Sonsoddo for treatment. The MMC has indicated that a decision on scaling up the plant’s capacity will be taken only after the pilot’s efficiency is conclusively demonstrated.

The plant’s smooth functioning cannot paper over the unresolved questions it has thrown up. When the Rs 7.5-crore facility, which includes five years of operations and maintenance costs, was commissioned, it immediately drew fire from multiple quarters.

Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai described the gasification technology as “an advanced form of incineration” ill-suited to Margao’s waste profile, while activist Roque Mascarenhas of Citizens for Sonsoddo pointed out that over 50% of Margao’s waste is biodegradable — beyond the reach of this plant entirely. More pointedly, a March 2024 order of the Bombay HC had specifically directed the installation of a 15-TPD biomethanation plant at the site.

“With Margao generating 35-40 TPD of wet waste,” an observer remarked, “all of which continues to travel to the Cacora treatment plant, the Sonsoddo facility remains, for now, one piece of a much larger, still-incomplete puzzle.”