Residents of Nuvem constituency have urged the Goa Industrial Development Corporation to inspect all plants at the Verna Industrial Estate for deficiencies in handling pollutants.
In a memorandum submitted to the MD of GDIC, the residents claimed that most of the problems besieging the industrial estate stem from lack of regulation and monitoring. This has also affected the environment and the health of residents around the industrial estate.
“Although the VIE was envisaged as an electronic hub, it now houses all kinds of industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to bakeries. The alarming contamination of ground water by companies in VIE in general due to discharge of chemicals and other pollutants has percolated to Sal and Zuari rivers,” Nuvem residents said.
“This can be seen at Rassaim-Loutolim, where contractors are dumping garbage and waste indiscriminately, which has seeped downhill into the Zuari river,” they added.
The group further questioned the manner in which the GIDC had allotted land in the industrial estate for the setting up of a 250 tpd waste management plant.
“RTL documents in our possession reveal that the plots admeasuring around one lakh sq metres, have been handed over to the waste management authority without even the necessary safeguard of an environment impact assessment,” they claimed.
