MARGAO: In connection with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that was filed about the pollution of Salpem Tollem Lake and River Sal, the High Court, gave a two-month deadline to the authorities to prepare a Margao Drainage Network plan, while it also came down heavily on the authorities for the condition of the SGPDA retail fish market.
The PIL had come up before the Goa Division Bench of the Bombay HC, wherein Antonio Alvares, the petitioner from Navelim argued the matter in person.
The petitioner requested that Margao Municipal Council (MMC) along with Goa State Urban Development Authority (GSUDA) to expedite the Margao Drainage Network Plan. He also pointed out that presently MMC only has Portuguese-era plans. The HC then gave a deadline of two months to prepare the plan.
“Adv (Somnath) Karpe states that the MMC in coordination with GSUDA will finalize the plan for Margao drainage as expeditiously as possible. Since Mr Karpe is unable to make a definite statement, we direct that this exercise must be completed within two months from today without giving any usual excuses,” said the HC bench comprising Justice Bharat P Deshpande and Justice Mahesh S Sonak.
The counsel on behalf of the authorities concerned pleaded that four months be given, which was outright rejected by the bench.
In a related matter, Adv Ashwin Bhobe on behalf of the Sewerage and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (SIDCL) filed a status report.
“This report states that out of the total of 145 applications for sewerage connections, 37 connections have already been released. He states that the balance will be processed and released though in the monsoon there are son1e difficulties,” the bench added.
This was in connection with the applications from PWD DIV XXI that handles the sewerage network where the petitioner has urged that all residential and commercial establishments have sewage connections to prevent the discharge of sewage into the river.
Justice Sonak instructed Alvares to file a detailed report before the matter comes up next.
In another matter, the petitioner brought to the notice of the Court the pathetic state of the SPGPDA retail fish market from which the contaminated water reaches the field and also river Sal via the storm water drains. Justice Deshpande, himself recounted his experience of his recent visit to the fish market and questioned the authorities about the filthy conditions and how people are inconvenienced while entering the market itself.
Justice Deshpande further observed that today footwear is sold in air-conditioned shops but vegetables and fish are sold in unhygienic conditions.
The court also reprimanded the authorities regarding the filthy condition of the SGPDA retail fish market.
"I had made videos of the overfull gutters there in summer. But no action was taken. Now in the rains the whole market will get its annual servicing and all that will go in the fields of River Sal", said Alvares while speaking to Herald after the court hearing.
It may be recalled that Alvares has been campaigning against the devastation caused to the Salpem lake and fields around it due to the discharge of raw sewage into it via the nullahs of Margao and surrounding areas. Alvares is also the President of the committee of farmers from Salpem Tollem who have recently revived cultivation in the Salpem fields after 35 years with the support of the Navelim Panchayat’s Village Development Committee (VDC) and Don Bosco Agricultural Unit.