Sewage in Taleigao released into paddy fields

The gush of sewage from some of the buildings into the paddy fields in Taleigao village has come as a horror to the farmers as well as residents, who have complained to all the authorities about the various health hazards and destruction of crops.

Some of the villagers have also said that some builders are only treating a part of their sewage while the rest is released into the paddy fields. However, people have said that the authorities have failed to resolve the issue.

A foul smell greeted Team Herald as we approached the fields. Villagers, who were present at the spot, said the adjacent building sometimes discharges its waste and sewerage into the fields making life difficult for the farmers and people who reside nearby in small houses.

“This is an annual affair that either the waste or sewage is discharged into the fields. As Taleigao does not have a sewage system, the overburdened septic tanks sometimes overflow and the builders are then forced to release the sewage into the fields.” said a Taleigao local, Rocky Fernandes.

Nearby residents have also complained that due to the discharge of sewage and other waste into the fields, the risk of breeding of mosquitoes and other health hazards has also increased.

The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project estimated at a cost of Rs 136 crore was approved in the year 2006 but due to certain delays the project work only begun in 2010 and seven years later the plant still stands incomplete with villagers stating that the commissioning of the plant would have tacked the problem.

Another resident, Sudesh Borkar said “If the STP project was completed on time along with the connections from the nearby buildings would have put an end to this major issue. They say that the project is 70 per cent completed. I question the authorities as to why there is a delay in the project, is it because of the release of the funds?”

“Unless the household sewage pipes are connected to the sewerage system this issue will not stop. In the next one year we are working on to connect the buildings and households to the sewage network. We are also starting the trial run of the new STP for the next three months,” said Public Works Department (PWD) Engineer, Dileep Dhavlikar.

It was further revealed that there were certain allegations made by the villagers against the builders, as they claim that the traditional water channels had been blocked.

“In March all the villagers had got together as we suspected that the traditional water channels which are linked to the St Inez creek for free flow of water had been blocked by some of the builders in Taleigao,” said a local on the basis of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Taleigao V.P, Sarpanch, Janu Rosario said “We have already written to the PWD to execute the STP project on a priority as the residents have to face a lot of problems. There have been many complaints of sewage being left into the fields and we are tackling those.”