MARGAO
The Cuncolim Citizens Front has issued a stern warning to the authorities to seal the polluting fish meal and fish processing units at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate or face the wrath of the people.
Days after the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) directed a fish meal plant and three fish processing units to shut down operations immediately or face closure, CCF leader Dr Jorson Fernandes urged the GSPCB to start the process for sealing the units, saying these will go for a stay on flimsy grounds and further pollute the environment.
“Our Cuncolim Citizens Front has had a meeting of all affected citizens from the neighbouring wards and has taken cognizance of the situation. We will react if the units are not sealed,” Jorson warned in his letter addressed to the Pollution Control Board on Wednesday.
Asserting that prompt, remedial action needs to be taken up against the polluting units of the Cuncolim Industrial Estate by the concerned Government agencies, Jorson, however, said that the Goa State Pollution Control Board, Water Resources Department and the Industrial Development Corporation have failed to take any prompt, remedial action thus putting the health of the people of Cuncolim to severe risk due to various pollutants.
He highlighted that the mounds of hazardous waste of erstwhile Sunrise Zinc Ltd have been left unattended to by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) from 2007 despite the court verdict.
“We have been reminding the Board time and again to cover it, much more so as due to the Covid pandemic this year it has remained exposed to rainwater. As a result, the hazardous waste has seeped into our water bodies and groundwater,” he said.
Jorson pointed out that the WRD has not been carrying out regular monitoring of bore wells after the permission was granted to sink these. What we saw was the misuse of these bore wells by the fish meal and three fish processing Units.
“Illegal bore wells have been sunk by some of the polluting units on the pretext of water harvesting which is hogwash.
He said the lackadaisical attitude of the GSPCB has encouraged the errant polluting units to play mischief. This has bolstered others to take things for granted and the result is the poisoning of our water, which has affected the health of the residents.
“It is a shame that the effluent treatment plants have been modified without the consent of GSPCB. Worse still, there is no proper plan for disposing of the treated effluents. Besides, there is no continuous monitoring of the soil and water at the disposal site of the treated effluent. Blame it all on GSPCB for creating such an ugly and dangerous scenario at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate,” Dr Jorson added.
