MARGAO
Intensifying its agitation against pollution at the Cuncolim Industrial estate, Cuncolkars on Monday knocked the doors of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with a plea to end the decades old industrial pollution.
In a memorandum signed by hundreds of people, the villagers requested the Chief Minister to conduct a Joint Site inspection in his presence by the highest rank officer of Goa State Pollution Control board and IDC Officials along with Environment Minister, Industry Minister and the Health Minister and other officers necessary with all equipment to carry out the same along with an advance intimation to the villagers of Cuncolim.
The memorandum demanded that the government uphold the penalty of Rs 7.22 crore polluter pay penalty rightly imposed upon the purported fish meal industries and to direct the fish meal industries to comply with the necessary payments in order to regulate further pollution by these industries.
The people have demanded that the government set up a Goa State Pollution Control Board office at Cuncolim Industrial Estate which would enable proper vigil by the authority and regulate pollution levels. A request was also made for the installation of Air Quality Monitoring unit and/or Air Quality Index to enable the general public to know about the levels of pollution in the Cuncolim IDC.
Through the memorandum, the villagers submitted that the pollution levels at the Cuncolim IDC are alarmingly high thereby causing irreparable damage to the health of citizens of Cuncolim. They made a fervent plea to the Chief Minister to redress the plight of the villagers of Cuncolim due to the irreparable damage caused to the health of the citizens at the behest of polluting industries at Cuncolim IDC and poor regulation by the authorities interalia Goa State Pollution Control Board.
They submitted that Cuncolim IDC is an orange zone industrial estate breeding environmental pollution to the levels of Red Zone industries due to poor performance and failure to catch hold of the polluter and failure to implement Polluter pay penalty against these polluting industries by the appropriate authorities.
“Four fish meal industries have illegally dug bore wells and are discharging untreated hazardous waste water into the ground water further deteriorating the ground water aquifers and the ecosystem at large. This discharge of untreated wastewater of fish mill leads to unbearable odour which spreads throughout Cuncolim”, they said.
The memorandum added: “It is submitted that these fish meal industries discharge wastewater into the ecosystem which causes foul smell in and around 7-8 kms radius area from the Cuncolim IDC and we the people of Cuncolim are left with toxic smell which usually occurs at late evenings and/or nighttime when most of the public are asleep”.
The villagers further submitted that these fish meal plants were in the year 2020 penalized for similar violations to the tune of Rs 7.22 crore under the polluter pay principle. “However, what is unfortunate to note is that the Goa Pollution Control Board waived the fine/penalty imposed against the four industries from Rs 7.22 crores to Rs 58.12 Lakhs”, they lamented adding that the fine/penalty has been arbitrarily reduced without following the due process of law which has caused these purported industries to cause further pollution due to poor performance on part of the Goa Pollution Control Board.
Further submitting that a couple of companies have encroached upon the Sociedade land, adjoining the industrial zone, the memorandum stated that the industries have also dug up wells and erected structures without any statutory permissions.
Saying that air pollution in the village of Cuncolim is at a rise for want of proper air pollution measuring units, the memorandum stated that steel industries like steel rolling mills release thick unfiltered black smoke in the air. “It is unfortunate that Cuncolim IDC being an orange zone industry does not have proper air quality monitoring unit which would enable one to foresee and keep a regular vigil on the pollution levels.
The memorandum also referred to the decade and half old hazardous zinc dump, which has contaminated the ground water and further damaged the ground water table and aquifer.
