MARGAO
Finally cracking the whip against polluting units, the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has ordered four units, including a fish meal plant and three other fish processing units to stop the operations at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate till further orders.
The GSPCB has warned that failure to comply with the directions will compel the Board to initiate stringent legal action under the provisions or the Water (Prevention and Control or Pollution) Act, 1974, and Air (Prevent ion and Control or Pollution) Act, 1981 which may include issue direction to close, without further notice.
The Board is now expected to direct the Water Resources Department (WRD) to carry out ground water monitoring at the cost of the units to ascertain the extent of pollution.
In separate orders, the GSPCB has ordered United Marine, Sagar Feeds, Quality Foods and Indotech Ice and Cold Storage to stop the operations of the units.
In the notice, the Board has said these units will not operate till the Board approves the design, methodology and disposal facility of the effluent treatment plant with immediate effect. These units have been further directed to submit a detailed methodology, design of the effluent treatment plant with water balance chart to the Board within a period of seven days from the date of receipt of these directions.
The directions come after the GSPCB had issued separate show cause notices to these units in December after the committee constituted by the Board had conducted an environmental audit of these units following allegations that the units are discharging effluents underground.
Based on the replies filed by these units, a personal hearing was conducted on January 29 in the conference hall of the Board, where the audit team had made a host of suggestions, including the suggestion to suspend the operations of the units with immediate effect until the units submit the design and methodology of the effluent treatment plants.
As far as United Marine is concerned, the audit team had maintained that the unit has carried out modification to the effluent treatment system without the specific consent of the Board and has also installed storage tanks.
While the unit had admitted existence or 115 mts deep bore well which was scaled in the presence or WRD officials, the purpose for which the bore well was utilized by the unit remains unknown.
Samples of the water from the said tube well could not be drawn due to depth of 115 mts of the said tube well. Impact if any on the ground water has to be established in consultation with expert agencies such as ground water board or Water Resource Department.
The Board will carry out ground water survey under the guidance of the agencies, while the cost of which will have to be borne by the industry.
In respect of the environmental audit of Ms Sagar Feeds and Ms Indotech and Cold storage, the environmental audit had stated that the analysis report for the bore well indicates that turbidity, dissolved solids, alkalinity and amonical nitrogen are exceeding the prescribed limits and that ecoli was found present in the analysed sample.
