Authorities hold several meetings and inspections to arrest issue, but ground reality unchanged till date
MARGAO
Has the high-level meetings followed by host of inspections changed the ground reality and helped to stop the discharge of city’s sewage and waste water into the river Sal?
This question may come to haunt the authorities again as it’s almost 10 days now since the district Collector, South Jyoti Kumari and officials descended on the banks of river Sal to inspect and identify the sources discharging raw sewage and waste water in the river.
Days before the inspection, the South district Collectorate had played host to a high-level meeting chaired by PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral and attended by Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel and Secretaries of various departments to take stock of the situation at the river Sal.
The moot question that may stare at the officials is simple – have the inspections by the Water Resources Department, Goa State Pollution Control Board and the South Goa district Collector changed the ground reality or has mitigated the factors contributing to the discharge of raw sewage into the river Sal.
Well, inquiries by The Goan has revealed that other than identifying the 5-6 storm water nullahs which have been carrying raw sewage and waste water into the river Sal for years now, no solution to address the burning issue has come forth till date.
Apart from identifying the storm water nullahs, carrying raw sewage from the city into the river, solution seemed to have eluded the authorities in arresting the flow of the sewage and waste water into the river.
An official in the know pointed out that three different inspections of the storm water nullahs and the river Sal have taken place between July 2021 and December 2022. Sadly, the flow of sewage and waste water into the river has not stopped till date.
The first inspection was carried out by the Water Resources Department in July 2021 last year. The report compiled by WRD senior official Ankush Gaonkar had come out with startling revelations how the city nullahs, which are only supposed to carry rain water, are carrying sewage 24x7. The report, however, lay buried in the dusty records of the district and State administration.
After the uproar at the Margao sewerage plant when Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas took on PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral head on, the Goa State Pollution Control Board inspected the river Sal and the nullahs and came to the same findings, how the nullahs are carrying sewage into the river.
Similar findings were brought to the fore by the GSPCB during inspection of the river Sal on November 7, unearthing the storm water nullahs carrying sewage and waste water from the city into the river. The December 6 inspection by the district Collector Jyoti Kumari with representatives of various agencies once again brought to the fore the 5-6 storm water nullahs discharging raw sewage and waste water into the river, but the moot question remains unanswered – when will these storm water nullahs stop carrying the sewage and waste water into the river and save Sal.
