MARGAO
Discharge of sewage from the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) into the river Sal, polluting the lifeline of Salete, came back to haunt the people once again on Friday.
Exactly three months after Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas kicked up a storm over the rampant discharge of raw sewage from the Margao STP into the river Sal, the Aam Aadmi Party MLA returned to the plant on Friday to claim that raw discharge has not stopped since then.
Venzy descended at the plant on Friday evening after receiving information that sewage is flowing out despite assurances from PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral, who also holds the Environment portfolio, that the STP's sewage discharge valve has been plugged.
The Benaulim MLA fired shots at Cabral for the sewage discharge, saying the Minister for Environment is only here to destroy the environment. Venzy said the facts and records are being compiled to take the Environment Minister to the Court. And, he warned the Member Secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Dr Shamila Monteiro not to play with the environment and the sentiments of Saxttikars and Goemkars, saying the people will make sure the GSPCB Member Secretary goes to jail for destroying the environment.
The Benaulim MLA descended at the STP around 5 pm, and he could see water gushing out from the valve.
“This is the same spot where we had come last time on November 4, 2022. They had all assured to plug the valve and stop the raw sewage discharge into the river Sal. They have even informed the House that the valve has been plugged. The message today is loud and clear that there is sewage flowing out from the valve into the river. Besides, raw sewage is entering river Sal from six different points from Margao and Fatorda,” he added.
Even as Venzy was briefing the media, he claimed that someone at the STP has closed the valve to stop the discharge of raw sewage. Turning his tirade on Nilesh Cabral, the Benaulim MLA said the PWD Minister, who also holds the Environment portfolio is out to destroy the environment. “We are putting the facts and compiling the records on the raw sewage discharge. The whole idea is to take the Environment Minister to Court,” he said.
Venzy further warned the GSPCB Member Secretary Dr Shamila Monteiro for not taking any action on the complaints lodged over the river Sal pollution. “The GSPCB Member Secretary has been quiet over the matter since the time the discharge of raw sewage into the river was exposed on November 4, 2022. She has been quiet because there’s no stop to the discharge of sewage into the river. Goemkars and Saxttikars would like to warn the pollution control board not to play with the environment and the sentiments. River Sal is our lifeline and we will make sure the GSPCB Member Secretary goes into jail if these things are not stopped forthwith,” he warned.
The GSPCB had carried out an inspection of the Margao STP as well as the river Sal after the Benaulim MLA had exposed how raw sewage was being discharged from the STP without treatment. The GSPCB reports were later forwarded to the various departments, including the Margao municipality and PWD, but the ground reality has not changed for the better to date.
Water discharged from STP on Friday was treated sewage: PWD Minister
MARGAO
Refuting the claims made by Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas that raw sewage is being discharged from the Margao STP, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said the water that was being discharged from the STP on Friday evening was treated sewage water.
When The Goan called up the Minister to shed light on the claims made by the Benaulim MLA on the discharge of raw sewage from the STP, Cabral was categorical in saying that the water that was let out from the STP into the nullah was treated sewage water.
He also pooh-poohed the claim made by the Benaulim MLA that the water discharge from the STP stopped after he made his presence felt at the plant on Friday evening.
“There is a 90-minute cycle, wherein the treated sewage water is released out after a certain period before it stops automatically. There’s no question of the water discharge from the STP suddenly stopped by the official. It is an automatic system in place,” he said.
Cabral further asserted that the valve of the STP plant, which was used in the past to discharge the sewage, now stands sealed, while ruling out the possibility of the valve discharging raw sewage in the river.
