More and more, my trips to Goa have ended up seriously upsetting me about the one big problem that ails the beautiful state - garbage. Especially two kinds... construction debris and plastic bags. As you enter the state, and approach Mapuca and then through Porvorim to Panaji, the gutters by the road side start overflowing with plastic bags... the beautiful green landscape marred by ugly dumps of construction debris. As you approach the beach belt of Candolim-Calangute-Baga from Nerul, just past the beautiful bridge over Nerul creek, you roll down the windows to take in the lovely breeze, and instead you are overpowered by the stench of dumped refuse. Panaji, though, is relatively clean and pristine.
Why is this happening, and what can one do about it? The big factor here is the way villages in Goa have got commercialized, hosting dozens of new hotels, and large building complexes. However, unlike the municipalities, the village panchayats are not tasked with, and not equipped to handle garbage. As open spaces vanish, and more and more garbage is generated, people are forced to dump it by the roadside, where it festers like infected wound.
Unless panchayats are equipped and tasked with garbage collection, sorting and processing, this situation can only get worse. No amount of "awareness" will help, because at the end of the day, people need a way to rid themselves of the waste.
Hopefully, the new IIT-educated CM is aware of this, and will figure out a way to make things better!
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