Cuncolim’s hazardous waste crisis enters another year without action

The hazardous waste at the Cuncolim IDC was exposed to rain during the last monsoons. There’s still no clarity on when the waste will be transported to the Pissurlem hazardous waste handling facility.

MARGAO
As yet another year draws to a close, promises made to the people of Cuncolim to remove hazardous zinc waste lying at the industrial estate there remain unfulfilled.
Hopes that nearly 35,000 tonnes of hazardous waste would finally be transported to the Pissurlem hazardous waste treatment facility in 2025 have once again been dashed. Expectations had been raised that the transportation process would begin in November or December, ensuring the complete removal of the waste before the onset of the monsoon. However, no such movement has taken place to date. The hazardous waste continues to lie exposed at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, with no clarity from the concerned authorities—the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC)—on when the long-pending transportation will finally commence.
It has been nearly one-and-a-half decades since approximately 35,000 tonnes of hazardous zinc waste were abandoned by M/s Sunrise Zinc Ltd following the closure of its unit around 2009. Since then, residents of Cuncolim have repeatedly been assured by successive governments that the waste would be removed, but those assurances have failed to translate into action.
With the waste still posing potential environmental and health risks, residents continue to demand immediate and concrete steps to resolve the issue once and for all.
Every year, ahead of the monsoon, the GSPCB undertakes the temporary measure of covering the waste dump with tarpaulin sheets. This year, however, strong winds and heavy rains blew away the cover, once again exposing the hazardous waste and aggravating health concerns among residents.
The issue has figured in almost every session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, with the government repeatedly assuring that the hazardous waste would be transported at the earliest. However, those assurances have so far remained unfulfilled.
Rs 2 crore earmarked to move waste: GSPCB
Chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), Levinson Martins, IAS, has stated that the Board has resolved to fund the transportation of hazardous waste from Cuncolim to the Pissurlem hazardous waste handling facility at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore.
Martins said the decision was taken at the GSPCB Board meeting held in October last year and expressed surprise that the transportation process has not yet commenced. “It was decided at the Board meeting in October that the GSPCB would provide Rs 2 crore towards the cost of transporting the hazardous waste,” he said.
He further clarified that the funds are already available with the Board and have been collected under the ‘polluter pays’ principle. “The Rs 2 crore has been lying with the Board, and the concerned agencies should now proceed with the transportation of the hazardous waste without further delay,” Martins added.
However, not a truckload of hazardous waste has moved out of the Cuncolim Industrial Estate so far, raising serious questions over the seriousness on the part of the government in getting the Cuncolim IDC rid of the waste.
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GWMC in dark over fund allocation
Officials of the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) have stated that no decision has yet been taken to commence the transportation of hazardous waste lying at the Cuncolim Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) estate.
While the GWMC had earlier prepared rough estimates for transporting the hazardous waste from Cuncolim to the Pissurlem hazardous waste facility, officials said they are unaware whether the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has transferred the proposed Rs 2 crore towards the project, either to the GWMC or to the State government.
A senior GWMC official further pointed out that even if the GSPCB has made a financial provision for the transportation, the work will still take time to commence. The estimates prepared earlier were based on the rates prevailing at that time, and officials indicated that the cost of materials and services has increased over the last two years.
“We will have to revise the rates of all items before awarding the work to a contractor. First, the government must make the funds available. Even if the GSPCB has sanctioned Rs 2 crore, additional funds will be required to transport the entire quantity of hazardous waste from the Cuncolim IDC,” the official said.
The statement further adds to the uncertainty surrounding the long-delayed removal of the hazardous waste, which has remained at the site for over a decade despite repeated assurances from the authorities.