Vijaykumar Korpe

CUNCOLIM: Cuncolkars have now spent more than a decade living with the nauseating stink emanating from the fish meal plants at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate.

The odours, which point to the presence of rotting waste that is not disposed of correctly, are a huge health hazard, posing a risk of disease not just to those employed at the industrial estate but to the entire neighbourhood, say villagers who claimed that their complaints to various authorities have fallen on deaf ears.

There are ten fish meal plants and fish processing units at the Cuncolim IDC. Many of them do not have effluent treatment plants, while in other factories, they are non-functional.

Alleging that the operators of the plants brazenly discharge untreated effluents into the open gutter or into the big natural pond close to the IDC, polluting the water bodies and killing their thriving ecosystems.

“The treatment plants surprisingly come to life when the Goa Pollution Control Board Officers visit the site, but after that, it is back to square one,” said a villager.

“The Cuncolim Industrial Estate is a curse to Cuncolkars. Neither the government nor the local body is bothered about the slow death we are inching towards, because of the pollution at the IDC. Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao had promised that he would take up the issue, but he is also silent,” said Cuncolim resident Kamaksh Prabhugaonkar.

When contacted, IDC officials said that they were not the competent authorities to handle the issue, and passed the buck on to the Goa State Pollution Control Board.

It may be recalled that some months ago, acting on the complaints of the people, the Goa State Pollution Control Board penalised some polluting fish plants and served them show cause notices.

“They are back to their old games again and continue to violate the rules and all the pollution-control norms,” said the villagers, demanding that the local MLA steps up and takes action.