Sewage disposal of beach shacks: Minister moots idea of 1 vehicle each for North and South Goa

MARGAO
In a bid to find a resolution to the contentious issue of disposal of sewage generated by the beach shacks along the coastal belt, Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira on Friday explored with the shack owners whether the sewage can be disposed of by deploying a vehicle each in both North and South to meet the requirement.

Beach shack owners led by the president of Shack Owners Society Cruz Cardoso, however, said they are open to the idea provided the government comes out with a subsidy scheme for the purchase of the vehicle to transport the sewage from the shacks to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP).

The interaction between the beach shack owners and the Environment Minister assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the fact that the shack owners have been told to install STPs to dispose of the sewage generated by the units.

“I personally don’t think it is practical for the beach shack owners to put up a STP because the beach shack business per se is temporary in nature. A STP requires regular supply of sewage. But, the STPs, if installed by the shack owners, will remain shut down when the shacks are not in operation,” he said.

He added. “Secondly, the beach shacks are basically temporary businesses. The government holds the lottery every three years to issue the shack. Hence, there is no guarantee that the existing shack owners will win the lottery. Then there is a question how many of them will install genuine STPs. I think the time has come to find a solution to the issue.”

He said the idea of transporting the sewage from the shacks just came to his mind and discussed the same with the shack owners. “The shack owners have shown their willingness to go for the vehicle but they have asked for 75 per cent subsidy to purchase the vehicles. The government can look into the idea by giving the subsidy,” Sequeira said, adding that he would discuss with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant how to go about with the implementation of the suggestion to deploy vehicles to transport the sewage.