MARGAO
The Colva gram sabha on Sunday cried foul over the construction of the Sewage treatment plant by the Sewage Corporation without nod from the Town and Country Planning department, with members demanding that the local body revoke the NOC issued for the STP.
The issue dominated the proceedings of the gram sabha chaired by Sarpanch Anthony Fernandes, with members armed with RTI information maintaining that the Sewage Corporation had started work on the STP without seeking
the TCP nod as mandated by the Goa State Coastal
Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).
Gram sabha member Shakuntala Mesquita said the RTI information clearly goes on to show that work on the project had commenced without the TCP nod, even as other members joined her in demanding the revocation of NOC issued by the Colva panchayat.
Mesquita further pointed out that construction work on the project was also taken up without undertaking plantation of saplings to maintain green belt around the treatment plant site. What surprised the gram sabha members was the reply to the query whether the STP plant is only meant to treat the sewage generated in Colva village.
As the reply stated that the STP plant at this stage is only meant for Covla, gram sabha members demanded to know whether the plant will be used to treat sewage from the entire coastal belt.
After much discussion, it was decided to appoint a legal counsel to guide the panchayat body and give legal opinion before taking a call on the revocation of the
NOC granted by the
panchayat body.
The issue of the construction of the panchayat ghar came up for discussion at the meeting after a member questioned the Chair why the panchayat was not building the project at a new site.
The Sarpanch explained that the panchayat is going ahead with the project at the existing site after complying with the queries raised by the TCP.
He said the members can assist the body to shortlist suitable land, while giving a week’s time for the members to suggest an alternate site.
