CUNCOLIM: Their forefathers have gone down in history for their resilience, fighting to keep Cuncolim safe and protected. And now the locals are fighting another battle for liberation as they literally struggle to breathe.
There is a proliferation of fish meal processing plants at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.
The same has been a thorn in the side of Cuncolkars for past 12 years.
Now numbering over eight, these units blatantly flout environmental norms, causing foul odours to permeate the air of the once pristine village.
One fish meal owner, in an honest admission to O Heraldo said, on condition of anonymity, “Some units are releasing untreated water in the rivers by transporting it on tankers, some release in open fields.”
It is not uncommon, therefore, to find streams of untreated effluents snaking out of the CIE and into Cuncolim village via borewells, not only raising the risk of health hazards but also sullying the air with an unbearable stench, right from Ambaulim and Comba to the Maddicotto ward throughout the day.
Fish meal plants essentially remove as much water from raw fish as possible and separate the oils by cooking, pressing and drying. The fish are then ground into a powder that is used for a range of purposes, from animal food to plant fertiliser. Expectedly, the process of preparing fish meal involves the generation of considerable odour and waste, for which a robust and well-equipped effluent treatment plant (ETP) is necessary. Except that there is no such ETP at the CIE.
In fact, the management of some fish meal plants at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate admitted that while an ETP is mandatory if such units are to operate, they are not effective enough to process the huge amounts of effluents that the plants generate.
But the buck passing continues. As is their wont, the operators of fish meal plants subsequently declared that it was the duty of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to build the common ETP. The GIDC, however, maintained that it was only concerned with providing land for the establishment of industries and could not be involved in setting up any such facility. The local municipality, too, has thrown it hands up and declared that it does not have jurisdiction to act. And so, the buck continues to be passed as brazenly as ever.
Already fatigued from waging war against power-guzzling steel plants that set up shop at the CIE 35 years ago, the people of Cuncolim said that each consecutive State government – be it Congress-led or BJP-led – appears to be bent on ruining the thriving paradise their village once was.
“Right from the tenure of Congress’ Pratapsingh Rane as Chief Minister to the tenure of the current BJP Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, nothing has been done to shut polluting industries at the CIE. On the contrary, every successive State government has only added to our woes, causing us to run from pillar to post and from the State Assembly to the courts,” an exasperated local said.
Punitive action by the authorities has been akin to a mere slap on the wrist. Although the Goa State Pollution Control Board issued show cause notices and even closure orders to the errant units at least eight times, follow-up was negligible. The hefty fines imposed were also never fully paid up. The locals attribute this to the might of the political powers who they say, couldn’t care less for the wellbeing of the people as long as revenue was being generated.
Some of the people have been suffering from deadly diseases like cancer,” Shantesh Naik, a young Cuncolim resident, told O Heraldo “Our ancestors fought for Goa’s Liberation, but who will liberate us from pollution? Many from among us have raised their voices against this malaise but there has been no political will to make things right.”
“At one point, the government was supposed to build a common ETP and even the industrial association of fish plants had promised to do this. But it has yet to see the light of day,” an affected Cuncolim resident said.
