MARGAO
A second fish meal plant reportedly proposed in Cuncolim has raised alarm bells amongst the people already battling pollution caused by a lone fish meal plant and fish processing plants at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Elvis Gomes, who hails from Cuncolim, has dashed off a letter to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant over moves to set up yet another fish meal plant in the town.
In his letter, Gomes has wondered why people are attracted to invest in fish meal plants of all the places only in Cuncolim.
“I do not know how the administration deals with the water and air pollution caused by the existing fish meal plant not only at the location of its operation, but the entire route the trucks laden with rotting fish waste take to discharge at the plant. It is simply beyond a normal human’s endurance capacity. To put it straight, it chokes the lungs with such foul air, that the effect of it pervades for a prolonged period even after the truck has vanished from sight,” he said, while asserting that Water Act and the Air Act do not seem to find application in the area.
He added: “At this stage, even any in principle approval to another such plant if granted, needs to be reviewed. The Department of Environment, the GSPCB, the District Magistrate, though required to act independently under the Central Acts, seem to have become powerless for reasons best known to them and the government.”
Seeking Chief Minister’s intervention, Gomes said if the fish meal plants are considered absolutely necessary, the same should be established anywhere else other than Cuncolim as the place is already reeling under the effects of the one already spewing out undesirable pollutants.
As of now, it isn’t clear the location of the second fish meal plant, whether at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate or outside. Sources pointed out that a file was recently moved at the Cuncolim Municipal Council seeking permission for the construction of a shed without outlining the exact purpose.
The Cuncolim Industrial Estate is playing host to around half-a-dozen fish processing units and a lone fish meal plant. Sources pointed out that government had given permission for the lone fish meal plant around a decade ago by rejecting all objections raised by citizens of Cuncolim.
Since then, people inhabiting in the vicinity of the industrial estate and beyond have been complaining of foul odour from the estate. People in the neighbouring areas and villages have been complaining against rotten fish smell emanating from vehicles transporting fish from the landing points and jetties to the fish meal plant at the Cuncolim IDC.
