MARGAO
Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira on Tuesday sent a message loud and clear to the units in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate charged for discharging untreated effluents into the drains to either comply with the Goa Pollution Control Board’s diktat or face closure of the units.
He also raised the issue of whether the Effluent Treatment Plants set up by the individual units are put in operation by the owners or whether the effluents are directly discharged without going to the ETP.
Days after the Cuncolim Industrial estate hit the headlines after the GSPCB issued notices to the four units -- a fish meal plant, a fish processing unit, a distillery and an ice cold storage unit -- for discharging effluents into the drains, the Environment Minister with GSPCB Member Secretary Dr Shamila Monteiro in tow descended at the Industrial Estate to check the ground reality.
However, heavy and incessant rains came as a dampener as the minister and the GSPCB could not conduct the inspection of the individual units or take a look at the effluents flowing in the stormwater drains.
The Environment Minister, however, discussed the situation with the owners of a couple of units charged for untreated effluent discharge in the drains. Sources said the Minister sent a strong message to the unit owners that he means business and those who violate the environmental norms will not go unpunished.
Sequeira said the GSPCB will withdraw the closure notices if the owners comply with the directions, adding, "The closure orders will continue if the violations continue.”
When his attention was drawn to the fact that the units have no ETPs to treat the effluents, Sequeira shot back. “As per the study, the ETPs are not an issue. The issue is whether the EPTs are running properly or not. Next what we have seen in some cases is that the effluents are discharged without going into the ETP,” he said.
