GSPCB defends saying there was no delay in action
MARGAO
Even as the detection of bore wells used to discharge effluents from fish meal plants and fish processing units in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate has sparked outrage, questions are being raised in many quarters whether the authorities were not prompt enough to rope in expert agencies to unearth the illegal bore wells dug up to discharge the effluents.
Otherwise, consider this. It was two years ago on December 17, 2018, that an NGO Alpha Omega Foundation had dashed off a letter to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) claiming illegal discharge of lakhs of litres of effluents from fish meal plant and fish units into the groundwater.
The General Secretary of the Foundation, Calvert Gonsalves, had brought to the notice of the Pollution Control Board that though he had complained to the Board on December 17, 2018, the
Board had shown no urgency to initiate action to shut the operations or to stop the discharge of the effluents underground.
Saying Cuncolim residents had been complaining of the unbearable odour emanating from the fish meal plants and fish processing units, he had complained to the Pollution Control Board how the units were discharging their effluents into the groundwater around two years ago.
In fact, in his letter dated January 2019, Calvert had drawn the attention of the GSPCB how the fish meal and processing plants were causing pollution of the underground water by discharging the effluents through water tanks, soak pits and bore wells.
“In my letter, I had demanded that the GSPCB dig the floor of the erring units by at least two meters to find out the hidden underground tanks, several soak pits and bore wells, through which the fish residue polluted water is being discharged,” he said, adding “had the GSPCB adopted timely measures and roped in the experts around that time, contamination of underground water would have been averted”.
When The Goan contacted GSPCB Member Secretary Dr Shamila Monteiro to shed light on the delay in roping the experts to track the illegal bore wells at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, she said the Board had set in motion the process to initiate action against the fish meal and fish processing units in the last year and a half, which culminated in the agency getting the experts to conduct an environmental audit.
“I do not think the GSPCB had delayed action in the Cuncolim industrial estate. We have to go by the process. I can say that notices were issued to the fish meal plants and the fish processing units, inspections carried out by the GSPCB. After analyzing the details and the inspection reports, and since there were certain doubts and questions, the Board finally decided to rope in outside agencies to help track down the
illegal borewells used to discharge the effluents,” Monteiro said.
Calvert, however, said the Alpha Omega Foundation had not only complained to the GSPCB over the illegal discharge of effluents but had pointed out how the production capacity of these plants was manipulated to suit their interests.
