Locals vow to intensify agitation unless pollution is curbed immediately
Citizens stage a protest in Cuncolim near the bust of freedom fighter Shabu Desai against industrial pollution.
Photo Credits: The Goan
MARGAO
Cuncolkars staged a protest on Monday over the apathy and indifference of government authorities to curb air and water pollution at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, affecting the health of the local citizens.
Citizens assembled near the bust of noted freedom fighter and a leading light of the Opinion Poll movement, Shabu Desai, to demand an immediate stop to the pollution at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
The protest against pollution came on the eve of the commemoration of the 1583 Cuncolim Chieftains’ revolt in the town, scheduled on Tuesday morning. Anti-pollution crusader Aviraj Desai had initially planned to hold a peaceful protest on July 15 near the Cuncolim Municipal Council to raise awareness and voice his concerns about the pollution and environmental damage caused by the IDC estate.
Staging the protest under the Save Cuncolim banner, Aviraj Desai told the media that Cuncolkars have been facing pollution over the last two decades, besides encroachment of property at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate. He, however, lamented that the ground reality has not changed for the better to date.
“The Cuncolim IDC estate has been a source of severe pollution, contaminating our water bodies, air, and soil. Despite numerous promises from the government, no effective measures have been taken to control pollution or implement an air monitoring system or ETP,” he said.
He added: “The recent issue of the Sunrise Zinc dump has further exacerbated the situation, with water accumulation contaminating nearby water and seeping into agricultural lands and water bodies.”
Saying that local MLA and Leader of the Opposition, Yuri Alemao, had raised the pollution issue at every session of the Goa Legislative Assembly, he pointed out that what the people got in return were only promises, which have remained empty to date. “The Sunrise Zinc dump has been lying at the Cuncolim IDC for over a decade and a half. We have only heard the government promising transportation of the hazardous waste from the Cuncolim IDC to the hazardous waste disposal site at Pissurlem. Not a truckload of the hazardous waste has gone out from Cuncolim to Pissurlem in the last 17 years,” he lamented.
Another citizen, Manju Shirwant, said the people of Cuncolim have been waging a sustained battle to demand a stop to pollution at the Cuncolim IDC, but in vain. “The people will have no option but to intensify our agitation to force the government authorities to curb pollution at the IDC,” he warned.
