Cuncolim unit told to halve output amid pollution fears

MARGAO
While granting Consent to Establish to M/s Goa Marine Impex Pvt. Ltd. to set up a fish meal plant at Cuncolim, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has decided to direct the existing fish meal plant operating inside the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, M/s United Marine, to reduce the production capacity of the plant to 1,200 tonnes per month.
Accepting the recommendations of the Expert Committee, the Board has decided to amend the existing Consent to Operate issued to M/s United Marine to reduce the plant’s production capacity.
Based on the complaint received from the Cuncolim Municipal Council against the existing fish meal plant, the GSPCB had constituted a Special Committee of Experts to verify the performance of pollution control measures and issues of pollution caused by the fish meal plant.
The Committee has made a host of recommendations, including the recommendation that the unit shall be asked to install an Online Effluent Monitoring System (OEMS) for continuous monitoring of effluent quality to ensure compliance with prescribed effluent treatment standards.
It was also recommended to ask the unit to ensure that fish are brought to the plant only in insulated vehicles and that all wastewater generated in the transporting vehicles is emptied in the unit and treated in the ETP. However, the unit may consider a storage facility for raw material of sufficient capacity as a standby and process only fresh material in the plant.
*All vehicles exiting the unit premises shall be thoroughly washed/cleaned after unloading in a designated contained area and mandatorily passed through an operational wheel-washing system prior to leaving the premises. The unloading area should be provided with a berm. All wastewater generated shall be channelled to the ETP.
*The gases captured from the roof suction hood are passed through a water scrubber and then vented; the same shall be passed through biofilters and then released into the atmosphere.
*The biofilter shall also be provided with an additional layer of activated charcoal above the water sprinklers for further purification.
*The unit shall be asked to install an online ammonia detection system near the processing shed, to ensure continuous monitoring of odorous emissions.
*The production capacity presently attained is a fraction of what is allowed/envisaged. As such, the recent expansion granted to the unit in July 2025, increasing the production capacity of fish meal from 1,200 tonnes/month to 2,400 tonnes/month, may be reconsidered by the Board and the unit may be asked to limit its production of fish meal to 1,200 t/month till a technical audit is carried out and the efficiency of air pollution control measures adopted is verified.