MARGAO: Following strict instructions issued by urban development minister Joaquim Alemao on Tuesday to all the councils in the state, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) started operating three composting units on Wednesday. Council chairperson Savio Coutinho said altogether 18 composting units, including six that are being readied, would be fully operational by the end of the month.

The council will be making use of the six composting units at Osia market complex for local segregation, Coutinho said. The local segregation will help in reducing the quantum of total waste dumped at Sonsoddo. But, compared to the 60 composting units earlier planned --- three each for the 20 wards of the council - the local segregation of waste is still a huge task.

Former vice-chairperson of the council Narayan Fondekar said, "Local composting of waste in all the 20 wards is next to impossible and a plant at Sonsoddo is a must for the treatment of waste.''

From the urban development minister to opposition councillors, the veered opinion is that without the participation of the people, composting units cannot be developed in all the wards.

In fact chief minister Digambar Kamat, who is the local MLA of the city, inaugurated one composting unit at the electricity workers union last year with the fond hope that such units will solve the vexed garbage problem.

But, within days, some elements damaged the newly-constructed units in some wards while others protested saying they would not like the units to be developed in their areas. The efforts undertaken by one NGO to spread awareness of segregation at source too failed to evince interest and the council was left to routing the garbage to Sonsoddo virtually abandoning the plan of building the units in all the wards.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to take a decision between IL&FS and Fomento and Ramky Enviro Eng Pvt Ltd., to handle the Sonsoddo project. In this regard the chief minister has convened a meeting on Friday to decide on the procedure for finalisation as the council at its special meeting on August 31 decided to let the government take a decision on appointing a consultant.

MARGAO: Signs of revival of the citizens facilitation centre (CFC) at the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) are palpable. For starters, the civic body has decided to launch its website that is designed to offer a host of services to the city residents. The e-venture is likely to be dedicated to the city on October 2.

"This was a step that was long overdue. The chief officer has taken some positive steps in streamlining the administration and the launching of the MMC's website is a step in that direction," MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho told TOI.

The website is designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). Chief officer of MMC Prasanna Acharya, known to be a tech savvy officer, has already held discussions with the NIC officials to ensure that the project is completed within the set deadline. When contacted, Acharya informed that the website was aimed at ensuring transparency and providing efficient services to the people. He said that additional facilities and services will be introduced into the system gradually.

It may be recalled that the MMC has earned a dubious reputation for its ignominious failure in running the CFC despite spending a whopping Rs 60 lakh on the project.

The project failed to take off as the software produced by the officials of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), on which lines the CFC was designed, could not match MMC's administrative requirements.

Presently, at the MMC, apart from the birth and death certificates issued with the KDMC facilitated software, issuance of only tax and trade licences is facilitated at the CFC based on the NIC (National Informatics Centre) software.

Coutinho, speaking to TOI, said that the council was determined to put on tracks the derailed project, but didn't fail to take a dig at his predecessor whom he blamed for the doomed project. "There were wrong people at the wrong time that led to the project's failure. I'm confident of re-launching the CFC," Coutinho said.