Consent for Cuncolim fish meal plant challenged in tribunal

Inspection by Cuncolim Municipal Council at land near the proposed fish meal and fish oil plant.

MARGAO
Opposition to the proposed fish meal and fish oil plant at Cuncolim has reached the Administrative Tribunal, with an environmental activist challenging the consent granted for the project.
Dr Jorson Fernandes has filed an appeal under Section 28 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, challenging the order of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) granting Consent to Establish the project. The proposed plant is to be set up on a 19,000-square-metre property located outside the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
Hearing of the appeal will come up before the Administrative Tribunal on March 23.
In his petition, Dr Fernandes has urged the Tribunal to set aside the GSPCB’s order on multiple grounds. He contended that the Board failed to properly consider that the consent was granted for a site located outside the notified industrial estate.
Referring to Guideline 9(3)(a)(ii)(A) of the Control of Water Pollution (Grant, Refusal or Cancellation of Consent) Guidelines, 2025, the appellant stated that no “orange category” industry can be established within 75 metres of a surface water body. He pointed out the presence of such a water body within survey number 340/1 (part), which flows from the adjoining hills and is surrounded by dense natural vegetation on the southern side of the proposed site.
Dr Fernandes further cited Guideline 9(3)(b)(ii), which mandates a minimum distance of 200 metres between an industrial unit and a settlement. He noted that the same survey number is zoned as a settlement area and is suitable for residential use. “There is no distance whatsoever between the proposed factory and the settlement area,” he stated, adding that the project site directly borders residential properties.
Drawing the Tribunal’s attention to this proximity, the appellant argued that the proposed facility violates the prescribed buffer norms and should have been located at least 200 metres away from any settlement. He emphasised that there is no setback and that the factory shares a boundary with a residential zone.
Citing Guideline 9(3)(c), Dr Fernandes also argued that the Pollution Control Board is obligated to ensure compliance with all applicable laws before granting consent. He pointed out that any factory proposed within the jurisdiction of a local body—in this case, the Cuncolim Municipal Council—must obtain a licence under Section 263 of the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968. He noted that the authority had initially directed the project proponent to secure such a licence.
The Cuncolim Municipal Council too had adopted a resolution last month to challenge GSPCB’s Consent to establish the fish meal and fish oil plant in Cuncolim.
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All eyes on Yuri as ultimatum lapses, no sign of protest
MARGAO: Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao’s 10-day deadline to the government to withdraw the Consent to Establish a fish meal and fish oil plant at Cuncolim expired on February 28, but his proposed agitation has yet to materialise.
Alemao, who represents the Cuncolim constituency in the Goa Legislative Assembly, had issued the ultimatum on February 17, warning of a massive protest near the Cuncolim Industrial Estate if the approval was not revoked within the stipulated period.
Despite the lapse of the deadline, no agitation has been held so far. It remains unclear whether the protest has been postponed, possibly due to the intervening Assembly session.
The issue has once again drawn attention to Alemao’s next course of action, particularly after the Assembly session was cut short by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant following the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct for the Ponda by-election.