Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) may be considered necessary, practical and beneficial in theory, but getting them installed in some parts of the State is easier said than done and has become a challenge for authorities.
PONDA
After residents voiced reservations to an STP proposed at Porvorim, residents of Undir-Bandora have also opposed the setting up of a similar STP in their locality.
Three such STPs have been initially planned in Ponda taluka and they have been proposed at Curti, Kapileshwari-Kavale and Undir-Bandora. The 15 MLD STP at Kapileshwari-Kavale will cater to Kavale, Ponda town, while the 20 MLD STP at Undir-Bandora will cater to Bandora, Adpai, Durbhat and parts of Marcaim constituency. The STP at Curti, which has a capacity of 7.5 MLD, will handle sewage of the entire Curti village.
The Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) had earlier objected to the laying of a pipeline network, but later agreed to the pipeline after a presentation was made to the council.
Then PWD minister Sudin Dhavalikar had laid the foundation stone for the STP at Kapileshwari in May 2016.
Stating that the STP would benefit residents of Kavalem and surrounding areas, Dhavalikar said the STP would restore the Kapileshwari nallah, which had become polluted due to discharge of sewage.
However, locals of Undir-Bandora have stiffly opposed the STP in their area, insisting that it should be set up away from habitation.
Such has been their anger that a group of locals had even restrained Bandora Sarpanch Nayan Naik from leaving her office for nearly an hour, after accusing her of issuing a No-Objection Certificate to the Sewage and Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa Ltd (SIDCGL) to set up the STP at Undir-Bandora. Confronted by the angry locals, Naik later revoked the NOC to the project.
The locals are unhappy that they have not been taken into confidence regarding the project and have made it clear that while they are not opposed to the STP in the village, they do not want it to be set up close to habitation.
When contacted, SIDGCL MD Arvind Patil said the corporation was reconsidering the STP proposed at Undir.
“Considering public opposition, we may have to shift it to another place, but we will have to discuss it with the new government. At present, nothing has been finalized about that plant,” said Patil. “The pipeline network is almost complete in all areas and once the STPs are commissioned, sewage can be treated at the sites.”
