PANAJI
The notification of a 12-member expert committee by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to advise it on establishing norms for re-use of water from effluent treatment plants has spurred discord in an unlikely quarter - faculty at the Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi.
A section of the GEC faculty are irked that two professors from outside of the 'environmental engineering' domain made it to the panel while the professor with this specific domain expertise was side-stepped.
That one of the two professors who made it to the panel, coincidentally is a close relative of former Deputy Chief Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar raised the spectre of nepotism and added fuel to the discord among the section of the faculty.
An appeal was also made to the GEC acting principal to correct the 'mistake' and intervene with the GSPCB to include in the panel Dr A K S Bhadauria, who is the domain expert and taught
environmental engineering for nearly two decades.
In the appeal to the principal it was also pointed out that the two professors named in the panel - - Dr UIhas Savoikar and Dr H S Prassana Kumar -- have no domain expertise and specialise in other areas.
While Savoikar is a professor in civil engineering, Prassana Kumar is from the geo-technical field.
The 12 panel was notified by the GSPCB recently in September-end and also has in it a professor from BITS Goa, two professors of Botany and Microbiology from Dhempe College, Miramar and a soil scientist from ICAR, Ella.
Other members are WRD chief engineer, Health Director or his representative and two officials of the GSPCB itself.
Apart from formulating norms for re-use of water from effluent treatment plants the panel is also expected to guide the Board to set norms to scientifically execute, use and maintain systems so as to bring them within a legal framework for state-wide implementation.
The panel will also frame conditions for discharge of treated water from sewage treatment plants and recommend alternate technology to replace septic tanks/soak-pits.
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Dr Bhaduria will be made 13th
member, says the GSPCB chief
PANAJI: Goa State Pollution Control Board chairman, Ganesh Shetgaonkar told The Goan that he has issued instructions to add Dr AKS Bhaduria as the thirteenth member of the expert panel.
"There are no issues. I received an e-mail communication from the Principal of the College and I have issued instructions to Joglekar to include Dr Bhaduria as tge thirteenth member of the panel," Shetgaonkar said when contacted.
The GSPCB chief declined to go into the details suitability of the other two GEC professors on the panel but added that geo-technical engineering is linked to the subject matter.
