Colva public toilet block.
MARGAO
Terming the show cause notice issued by the Goa State Pollution Control Board to the Colva toilet a “big joke”, social activist and Secretary Colva Civic and Consumer Forum Judith Almeida has questioned GSPCB’s decision to send the notice to Ms Public Toilet when the Goa Tourism Development Corporation is the owner of the toilet.
Terming the directions issued by the GSPCB as a “farce” and “unbelievable”, Judith demanded to know how come the notice and directions have been issued to Ms Public toilet when the GTDC is the owner of the toilet.
”The directions ought to have been addressed to the GTDC, the owner of the toilet block. This would have ensured transparency and accountability. For, the public toilet block has been a repeated offender in discharging the raw sewage into the Colva creek contaminating the waters”, she said.
She added: “Are we to believe that the GTDC has no responsibility in the maintaining hygiene and sanitation? Does the public toilet block not belong to the GTDC? The time has come to fix responsibility and not just pass the buck on the contractor manning and running the toilet”,
During the inspection carried out by the GSPCB on March 12 based on a complaint lodged by Judith, the inspection team had observed that the public toilet is being utilized by the public, however STP of the public toilet was not operational during inspection.
It was found that the STP area was locked and was not accessible to carry out the inspection. Upon enquiring at the pay counter of the toilet, the team was informed that the STP is being operated during night for two hours.
After the villagers caught the toilet contractor red handed while discharging the sewage into the Colva creek, the GSPCB pointed out that it is evident that the raw sewage was seen released from the STP of the public toilet into the Colva Creek.
