MARGAO
As a fresh round of political slugfest erupted in Benaulim, this time to claim credit over the Colva creek clean-up operation, the host of High Court orders in the Public Interest Litigation (PLI) filed by Colva-based social activist Judith Almeida seemed the driving force behind getting the agencies for putting up a Sewage treatment plant in the tourist village and initiate measures to end pollution in the creek.
Under the banner of Colva Civic and Consumer Forum, Judith had knocked on the doors of the High Court with a PIL over a decade ago in 2011, after her petitions to the government agencies to put an end to the contamination of the Colva creek by the discharge of sewage and wastewater fell on deaf ears.
Since then, the Colva beach had come under the scanner of the High Court, which was monitoring the works proposed and completed, setting time-lines for the department, including the Sewerage & Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa and appointing the Tourism Director as the coordinator in getting the departments to implement the directions.
“There was rampant discharge of sewage and wastewater into the Colva creek by the establishments. Since my pleas to the departments concerned to stop the sewage flow into the creek did not yield any positive result and since Colva had no STP, I decided to knock on the doors of the High Court in 2011”, Judith recalled.
It’s over a decade now since the social activist has been fighting the battle in the High Court to stop the contamination of the Colva creek. The battle is not over yet, but Judith knows for sure that her sustained efforts and the High Court directions have ensured that the Colva sewerage treatment plant is finally in place. In fact, it may take just a couple of months to commission the STP and stop the sewage and waste from flowing into the Colva creek.
She just laughed when her attention was drawn to the political slugfest amongst the political class in claiming credit behind the cleanup of the Colva creek and other issues. “All these things have been made possible because of the High Court directions, issued from time to time over the last decade. The High Court is closely monitoring the Colva creek and STP work”, she said.
In fact, the Sewerage & Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa and the WRD are expected to file a status report on the Colva STP plant and the Colva creek clean up on June 20 when the PIL comes up for hearing in the High Court.
On October 16, 2019, the High Court had taken up the issue of desilting of the Colva creek. The Water Resource Department (WRD) was asked to submit the compliance report/status with regard to the desilting of the Colva creek and maintenance of its retaining walls. The court had also directed the Pollution Control Board to inspect the hotels and had sought a status report from the Sewerage Corporation on the Colva STP.
