Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado inspecting the arrangements at River Sal on Monday ahead of dredging of the river from January 26. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
There’s no stop to the rampant flow of raw sewage water from neighbouring Margao into the river at numerous points between the Sirvodem-Khareband-Old Market points, even as the stage is finally set for the de-silting of the River Sal on the stretch between the Khareband bridge and Telaulim bridge in Navelim constituency.
Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister, Avertano Furtado told the media that de-silting work on the Rs 3.76 crore project would get underway from Republic Day, while exuding confidence that the contractor will complete the work within the stipulated time of 120 days. “Today, I have inspected the area as the contractor has mobilised the required machinery to take up the work from Tuesday. Besides de-silting, the contractor will also trim the branches of the mangroves which have intruded into the river course," Avertano said.
Avertano, however, had no answer when the media drew his attention to the rampant discharge of raw sewage water into River Sal through the storm water nullahs from Margao emptying into the river at a number of points.
The Goan had a week ago highlighted how sewage water finds its way unabated into River Sal while the Captain of Ports on the other hand issued the work order to a Margao-based company to de-silt the river.
It may be recalled that while the government is taking up the de-silting work of the river course passing through Avertano’s Navelim constituency as per his election promise made to the people on the eve of the 2012 Assembly poll, the government has no concrete plan to take up similar work along the Khareband bridge-Mungul bridge and further upstream up to Nuvem, with Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar only handing out an assurance to take up the balance work in phases.
Even as his Navelim constituents have made a fervent plea to the government to simultaneously stop discharge of raw sewage into River Sal coinciding with the river de-silting work, Avertano said the government would soon come out with a concrete plan for the River Sal de-silting work right from Verna to Betul. “We are aware of the ground reality. That’s the reason I along with the Chief Minister inspected the sewage treatment plant and got commitments from the PWD on the commissioning of the 20 and 7 MLD sewage treatment plants under construction at Sirvodem," Avertano said.
Meanwhile, a group of citizens under the banner of Shadow Council inspected the River Sal stretch between Khareband and Kharelem and found sewage water finding its way into the river, raising questions on the efficacy of the de-silting project.
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Project to treat polluted Sal water for irrigation of fields
MARGAO: Teri will embark on a project “from polluting river to clean water for irrigation” in Navelim from January 27, to provide clean water from River Sal for irrigation of fields in the Mandopa area of the village.
Kavita Patil, Research Associate, The Coastal Ecology & Marine Resource Centre told the media in presence of Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado that the year-long project will treat the polluted River Sal water for irrigation of fields in Mandopa village through natural means.
Thomas B Boving, Prof, University of Rhode Island, said the river bank filtration has been tried in the US, Europe and in some parts of India, including Haridwar and Karnataka. “The technology produces high quality water by pushing water from the river through the sediment. The process does not use any chemicals, but use natural factors to clean the water," he said.
Saying that this is the first project of its kind in Goa, Boving said the technology will improve the quality of crops and bring higher income for the farmers by selling better quality products.
Teri intends to use the technology with solar power, by tapping the bright sunshine to provide energy for the pumps.
