MARGAO
The Colva 7.5MLD sewage treatment plant (STP), which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on January 16, has been struggling to operate at its full capacity. Despite its 7.5MLD capacity, the plant is currently processing only 0.5MLD of sewage per day, a situation that has raised concerns, especially considering the Rs 56 crore investment made by the government.
The plant, commissioned about two and a half months ago, has faced under-utilisation due to a lack of sufficient sewage connections. Rough estimates reveal that the Sewage Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa Ltd (SIDCGL) and the PWD, Sewerage, have received a mere 80-odd applications for sewage connections from both commercial establishments and residential apartments/houses.
To address this issue, Chief Minister Sawant has proposed in the 2025-26 State budget to levy additional charges on water bills—50% more for domestic consumers and 100% for commercial establishments. The proposal aims to encourage households and businesses to connect to the sewage system, but has sparked debate on whether it will be effective in encouraging compliance.
The Chief Minister’s avowed objective behind the proposal to levy additional charges on water bills is to get households and commercial establishments to connect their premises to the underground sewage line. In the past, too, the government had warned of disconnection of water supply to establishments and households discharging sewage into the drains, but in vain.
When the Colva STP was launched, the CM had set a deadline of March 31 for households and businesses to connect to the sewage line, with the threat of water disconnection looming for non-compliance. However, as of now, there has been little progress, with only 80 sewage connection applications received since the initial warning, up from just 30 at the time of the plant's inauguration.
Situation no better in Margao
Despite the government spending hundreds of crores of rupees to set up sewage disposal infrastructure in the commercial capital, with major parts of the city connected to the underground sewage line, sewage water continues to flow into the stormwater drains, which ultimately flows into the River Sal and other water bodies.
According to affidavits filed by the Goa State Pollution Control Board and the Margao Municipal Council in the High Court in the Salpem Lake PIL, hundreds of households and commercial establishments have been found discharging sewage and wastewater into the stormwater drains.
The Chief Minister’s latest proposal to charge the erring establishments and households with additional charges on water bills indeed faces an acid test, with past measures failing to stop the sewage flow into the drains.
