The contaminated Colva creek. (Below) Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas and WRD officials inspect the area. Captured by : The Goan
MARGAO
The Colva creek at the entrance to the world-famous Colva beach was again in the news on Wednesday for the same old reason “ the devastation of the creek water caused by contamination and water stagnation on the iconic beach.
Last time round, locals had complained of sewage water inundating the beach stretch, emitting a foul odour. However, the status of the water sample testing exercise conducted by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) remains unknown.
As the contaminated water continued to stagnate on the beach, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas, along with senior officials from the Water Resources Department (WRD), visited the site to assess the situation and explore potential solutions to the recurring problem.
The Benaulim MLA said that he had taken up the issue on the floor of the House in every session, trying to impress upon the government to float a tender for annual maintenance of the creek. “What is needed right now is to deploy workers to clean up the creek periodically. Floating a tender to carry out annual maintenance amounting to Rs 20-22 lakh should address the issue. But, the government has not taken the issue seriously because of the cost factor.”
Reminding that the world-famous Colva beach had hosted Beach Bonanza at Colva when former Benaulim MLA Mickky Pacheco was the Tourism Minister, Venzy said there is no space left at the beach to hold such an event. “I appreciate Mickky for hosting the Beach Bonanza at Colva. Even I want to hold such an event in May but look at the state of the Colva creek. The WRD officials should shoulder the responsibility of keeping the creek water clean,” he said.
Directing his tirade at the ruling BJP, the Benaulim AAP MLA said the BJP mandal should take the file relating to the Colva creek to the government and get it sanctioned. “Instead of taking videos and making them viral, let the BJP Mandal take the file to the government on Colva creek maintenance. I don’t want to take any credit,” he said.
Colva Panchayat member Treza D’Silva, who represents the ward, expressed frustration at the lack of progress in addressing the contamination of the creek. “The government says that Colva is an iconic beach, but look at the state of affairs on the beach. Last time around, it was suspected that sewage from the adjoining toilet block was discharged into the creek. There’s no solution to the issue so far,” she said.
She added: “How can you expect tourists and visitors to bathe in the sea when they find the contaminated creek waters stagnating on the beach? The need of the hour is to resolve the issue. The government should come up with a permanent solution.”
