A gram sabha member discusses the issue of pollution of Baga river on Sunday. Calangute Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira along with other panchayat members was present for the gram sabha meeting. Captured by : Agnelo Pereira
MAPUSA
Caught between public concerns and the BJP-led government, Calangute Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira on Sunday said that the panchayat has asked the Calangute Police to file an FIR against the PWD Executive Engineer for starting operations of the sewage treatment plant, without obtaining the necessary permissions of the panchayat and other statutory authorities.
Sequeira also stated that the panchayat has written letters to various authorities including the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), department of environment and Minister for Environment Nilesh Cabral on the nuisance created by the management of the STP.
The sarpanch admitted that raw sewage was released into the Baga river and the surrounding open space thereby polluting the environment and destroying the bio-diversity in the area.
He said, last week the panchayat conducted an inspection at the site and immediately directed the STP management to stop operations of the plant.
“We met the Calangute Police Inspector and requested him to file an FIR against the Executive Engineer for operating the STP without obtaining the necessary permissions from the authorities. The ball is now in the court of the Calangute Police Station. I cannot do anything more than that,” Sequeira said while responding to the concerns raised by the villagers during the Gram Sabha meeting.
However, a resident of Calangute Antonio De Souza said that the complaint ought to have been filed before the authority which in this case is the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) after following due process of law as envisaged in Section 19 of the EPA, 1986.
“The authority is duty bound to register FIR under section 15 of the EPA, 1986. Discharging raw sewage in the water/stream/river is a serious offence,” De Souza said.
Gram Sabha member Francis D’Souza pointed out that Baga river was polluted due to release of sewage water and demanded action to stop the nuisance.
The sarpanch further informed that the panchayat was not against the plant per se but expected the STP management to follow proper procedure while conducting operations of the plant.
“It’s a good plant. We don’t have an issue with the plant but whatever is being done should be done in a systematic way,” he said, while trying to do a balancing act on the issue.
Former panchayat member Sudesh Mayekar said that since the government has spent crores of rupees in setting up of the STP, it would not stop with just one letter of the panchayat.
He said efforts must be made to see that a reverse pipeline as proposed is set up at the earliest.
Sequeira is a BJP member and had contested the 2022 assembly election on the BJP ticket against MLA Michael Lobo who was elected on Congress ticket.
