File photo of smoke billowing from the Cuncolim Industrial estate.
MARGAO
The demand by Cunkolkars for the shutdown of all red- and orange-category industries operating in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate has been long-standing, rooted in years of sustained protests against environmental pollution.
The reasons are well known. Industries”particularly steel rolling mills and fish meal processing units”have repeatedly been accused of violating air and water pollution norms with impunity. Frustrated residents have taken to the streets on multiple occasions, demanding the closure of these units and the complete removal of polluting industries from the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
In fact, Cuncolim stands out as perhaps the only industrial estate in Goa to have witnessed continuous public agitations against pollution since the 1990s, when a number of steel rolling mills first began operations in the area, followed by the fish meal plants in the last one decade.
Now, residents fear the situation could worsen. While pollution within the industrial estate itself remains a serious concern, two mega projects”a steel rolling mill and a fish meal processing plant”are proposed outside the jurisdiction of the Cuncolim Industrial Estate. Locals apprehend that the approval of these projects could open the floodgates for similar polluting units to come up along the periphery of the estate, encroaching upon residential zones.
Adding to public outrage is what many residents describe as a troubling coincidence: the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board (IPFB) has granted in-principle approval to both the proposed fish meal plant and the steel rolling unit. This has raised eyebrows locally and prompted residents to once again sound the war bugle against the projects.
What has come as a rude shock to villagers is that even as they are mobilising on the ground to oppose the fish meal plant proposed outside the industrial estate, the IPFB has also granted in-principle clearance to a steel unit to set up machinery outside the estate limits. This has heightened fears that pollution, which was earlier confined largely within the industrial estate, will now spill over into surrounding residential areas.
Residents warn that they will intensify their agitation if the government fails to reconsider its approvals and safeguard public health and the environment.
Anti-pollution activist Aviraj Desai expressed strong opposition to the approvals. “The in-principle nod granted by the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board for setting up a fish meal plant and now a steel unit outside the Cuncolim IDC jurisdiction is an insult added to injury for people fighting against pollution. It is nothing but rubbing salt into the wounds,” Desai said.
Questioning the government’s decision, he added, “How can the government grant approvals for fish meal and steel units outside the Cuncolim IDC when people are demanding the shutdown of the steel and fish meal plants operating within the IDC?”
Calling for united action, Desai said, “It is high time that Cunkolkars get their act together and recognise the threat posed to their health and well-being. The time has come to act decisively and send a loud and clear message”not just to the promoters of fish meal and steel units, but also to the government and the Investment Promotion Board”that the people and their health cannot be taken for granted.”
