MARGAO
The High Court on Tuesday has directed the agencies including the Sewerage Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa ltd (SIDCGL) to file an affidavit on the status of the sewerage works in the commercial capital.
When the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Navelim villager Prof Antonio Alvares came up for hearing before the Court, the court questioned why there’s no proper coordination amongst the agencies involved in handling sewerage works.
The petitioner explained to the Court that the agencies have been only promising to take measures to stop the flow of sewage into the city drains and rivers, but in vain.
Alvares later told the media that the High Court bench has observed the agencies should work in coordination to take the sewerage works to its conclusion. “The High Court has now told the agencies to filed separate affidavits with the status quo on the works and the measures initiated to stop the flow of sewage into the drains and nullahs,” Alvares said.
The matter will now come up for hearing on June 19 for directions.
Alvares had filed the PIL in the year 2021 over the failure of the authorities, including the Margao Municipal Council to stop commercial establishments and households from discharging raw sewage and waste water into the storm water nullahs which finally found its way into the once picturesque Salpem lake and the river Sal.
Since then, the Court had issued directions to get the migrant inhabited Azad Nagar colony connected to the underground sewage line. Sewage and waste water from Margao, however, continues to flow into the Salpem lake and the river Sal with dozens of commercial establishments and households still discharging sewage and waste water into the drains.
