the goan I network
PANAJI
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleira on Tuesday spent a good amount of time during the monsoon Assembly session trying to convince the government to do something about the very polluted River Sal and its tributaries. Faleiro was speaking to oppose the motion of thanks to the Governor for her address in the Assembly earlier
this year.
Faleiro said that in a reply given to him in the last Assembly session, it was confirmed that the River Sal and its tributaries were very polluted. Faleiro asserted that if the legislators were not capable of protecting the state’s rivers, then they were not fit to “be here
and govern.”
“Sewage from three plants are going into River Sal. You can’t put your finger in River Sal without it rotting. In my childhood, I used to swim and play in the river, but today you can’t go near it. All of Margao’s sewage goes there,” said Faleiro, reiterating what fellow legislator Churchill Alemao had stated just on Monday.
Faleiro said that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department was largely to blame for the state of the River as it had allowed construction of houses on the bank of the river, and sewage from all these houses goes directly into the river, he said.
“We need a Goa Protection of Rivers Authority. Make it an autonomous body. Give it the power to go and inspect. So far only the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is there, but everyone cannot go to the NGT all the time. Be strict. Even bring in imprisonment,” suggested the Navelim MLA.
He went on to add about the importance of rivers to Indian culture, saying that they were known as holy.
