MARGAO
The 2023-24 Budget estimates presented by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on the floor of the House has held a promise to rejuvenate the highly contaminated river Sal “ the lifeline of Salcete.
The government’s decision to launch rejuvenation of the river Sal assumes significance and comes in the backdrop of the fact that the Centre has pointed out that 11 polluted rivers have been identified in Goa in the year 2018, out of which river Sal falls under the Priority Class III, with BOD Content between 10-20 mg/l.
In his budget speech on Wednesday, the Chief Minister announced that under the River Rejuvenation programme, the River Sal will be desilted and waterways will be improved at a cost of Rs 25 crore. The programme also includes restoration of damaged embankment at an estimated cost of Rs 22.38 crore.
Rampant discharge of raw sewage from the commercial capital and establishments along the stretch from Margao to Betul has left the river Sal highly contaminated.
In fact, a total of six storm water nallahs from Margao and Fatorda are presently carrying raw sewage and waste water in the river Sal for want of sewerage network in the city.
Contamination of river Sal had echoed in the Rajya Sabha in December last when Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwinin Kumar Choubey in a reply to Rajya Sabha MP Luizinho Faleiro informed that Action Plans for rejuvenation of Polluted River Stretches (PRS) have been prepared by the four-member committee called Rejuvenation Committee" (RRC) constituted by Goa, under the overall supervision and coordination of Principal Secretary, Environment of the concerned State/Union Territory.
The Minister pointed out that the prepared action plans covers aspects such as source control (municipal sewage management, industrial pollution control, waste management), river catchment/basin management (adoption of good irrigation practices, utilization of treated sewage, ground water recharge aspects), flood plain zone protection and its management (setting up of bio-diversity parks, removal of encroachments, rain water harvesting, plantation on both sides of the river), ecological/environmental flow (E-Flow) and watershed management.
