MARGAO
The Margao Municipal Council on Monday submitted to the High Court that around 101 households inhabiting the Azad Nagar locality of the city have applied for sewerage connections.
While accepting the submission made by the civic body the Court suggested that the Municipality ensure that the remaining 51 households also apply for the sewerage connections.
The Margao Municipality has agreed to do so within the next 10 days, sources said, even as the High Court has asked the civic body to file a status report on the sewerage connections to Azad Nagar on the next date of hearing scheduled in June.
At the hearing the Public Interest Petition (PIL) writ petition filed by a resident of Navelim, Antonio Alvares pointing out the rampant discharge of raw sewage and waste water into the storm water drains which later find its way into the Salpem lake and the river Sal, the Margao Municipal Council submitted that around 101 out of the 152 households at Azad Nagar have applied for the sewerage connections.
The Court at the last date of hearing had told the MMC to make at least 100 inhabitants of the Azad Nagar locality to take the sewerage connections from the PWD.
The petitioner had drawn attention of the High Court at a previous hearing that waste water from the Azad Nagar locality is flowing into the storm water drain, which later finds its way into the Salpem Lake for want of sewerage connections.
After dilly-dallying by the authorities and with no change in the ground reality, the petitioner again drew attention of the High Court at the last hearing, which prompted the Court to issue direction to the civic body to ensure that 100 out of the 152 households in the locality should apply for the sewerage connections, which has now been complied by the civic body.
Sonsodo remediation: Petitioners directed to raise grievances before division bench
MARGAO: The Registrar of the Bombay High Court has informed a group of citizens who had submitted a letter petition to the High Court on the remediation of the Sonsodo legacy dump, that they may file an application before the Division Bench of the Court dealing with the PIL writ petition and raise their grievances.
In a letter addressed to one of the petitioner in the letter petition, Savio Coutinho, the Registrar has further informed that all the addressees of the Letter Petition can raise their grievances in the meeting involving the officials of the State government and others directed to be held by the High Court of Bombay at Goa.
In the Letter Petition dated March 18, 2023 addressed to the Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, Coutinho and other citizens had requested the High Court to appoint a team of qualified people to examine the remediation work executed at Sonsodo and submit report confirming whether the work is executed as per remediation norms, whether the three components of the remediated waste is actually qualifying to be “Compost”, “Inert” or “RDF”. And whether the same fulfilled the various conditions as laid down in the tender clause.
They had further raised the question whether the three components of remediated waste ie. “Compost”, “Inert” and “RDF” in its present form, is safe for dumping in low lying water catchment areas.
