VASCO
WRD Minister Subash Shirodkar on Monday said he would introduce a legislation to penalise those misusing nullahs to dump their garbage.
Shirodkar was speaking to reporters after visiting the IFB plant in Verna to inspect the rainwater harvesting process in the presence of GIDC Chairman Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Verna Industries Association (VIA) president Pradeep da Costa, Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) president Damodar Kochkar and IFB officials.
"People in Goa have a wrong habit of dumping waste from their kitchen into the nullah. This is not correct and I feel we must penalise people who dump garbage in the nullah,” said Shirodkar.
“People must have a holistic approach towards nullah because water from here drains into wells and this is used by people for daily use and so, dumping waste should be strictly avoided.”
“We then de-silt the nullahs and people keep dumping waste. If people dump waste for 364 days in a year and we de-silt for one day, it will not help. I have decided to come out with a legislation to penalise people who misuse the nullahs to dump waste," said Shirodkar.
Shirodkar said he would also visit the VIA office and resolve the issue of raw water to the industry.
"I brought my team of engineers to understand the problem and help resolve the issue quickly. We have abundant water in all our dams and we only need to improve our supply. We have made plans for this which will be executed immediately," said Shirodkar.
Asked about the pending retaining wall work at the landslide-prone area near Goa Shipyard Limited in Vasco, Shirodkar said he would visit the site and take an appropriate decision.
"As of now, there is some confusion on whether WRD should spend money on the internal landslide and who will be taking care of the flooding areas. I have not received the file as yet but I will visit the area and then only will take an appropriate decision," said Shirodkar.
Speaking on his visit to the IFB plant, Shirodkar said he was impressed with the rainwater harvesting process used by the company. He also hailed the company for taking up various unique initiatives, including a washing machine which would consume only 30-40 litres of water instead of the average consumption of 100 litres of water.
"IFB has employment of around 2,000 people and has contributed tremendously to the state exchequer. They manufacture a machine every 12 seconds. They have also established huge solar panels besides indulging in water harvesting and these are the two aspects of using natural resources for the company and every company must follow these systems.
He informed that an additional pipeline from Kushavati to Davorlim and Davorlim to Verna are the two projects he intends to take up on priority to solve the scarcity of water in these areas.
