An industrial estate with proper facilities and amenities promotes and encourages industrialists to set up their units. Its absence discourages small and businessman to look for an option.
This is what has happened to Sancoale Industrial estate in Zuarinagar which is touted as being the first industrial estate in Goa.This industrial area have now got the tag of being a junkyard estate of Goa as Goa Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has failed to address important issues such as poor access , heaps of garbage, poor drainage system etc.
“This industrial estate is blessed to have all the favorable conditions to emerge as the best industrial estate. While other industrial estates across Goa complain of power outages and inadequate water supply, Sancoale IE has a substation in close proximity and thus it has continuous power and good water supply, still other pending issues don’t allow Sancoale IE to grow as per its growing capacity and the main disadvantage is that this industrial estate is not connected to the highway. Sadly, during every meeting with GIDC officials we have begged them to resolve the highway connectivity and garbage issue but GIDC turns a deaf ears,” said Sasindran Nair, President of Sancoale Industries association.
“In absence of highway connectivity heavy vehicles from and to Sancoale IE has to pass through congested area and movement of traffic becomes very difficult. Also all the undisciplined parking on the roads and illegal extension by the roadside makes heavy vehicle movement more chaotic. Ideally connectivity to the highway which is necessary for the industrialization is the need of the hour,” he claimed.
As per the industrialists operating at Sancoale IE the other major issue faced by them is cleanliness. “Whenever anyone enters our industrial estate, garbage welcomes them. We have heaps of garbage dumped right at the entrance of industrial estate. GIDC has been collecting house tax from industrial units operating from Sancoale IE. This tax is collected for cleanliness and to provide other required services but in return fails to maintain cleanliness in the area,” Sanjay Satardekar, a businessman having an industrial unit in Sancoale IE claimed.
Ironically though this industrial estate houses certain big brands including Dura line, laminates, Regos package food ,Computer Graphics, Marine electric, GSL’s fiber boat manufacturing unit, Amul storage etc , but due to improper cleanliness today this industrial area which is first and oldest industrial area in Mormugao Taluka have become a junkyard.
“Indeed industrial units maintain internal hygiene inside their premises but external hygiene is not maintained by IE. Now whenever any new client come to visit our unit, they pass a comment that we are operating from a junkyard which also has no glow like any other industrial estate in Goa which is quite embarrassing and awkward,” Satardekar said.
In fact GIDC should take extra ordinary care in maintaining cleanliness and street lights. Industrialization is the growth of a particular state. If industry doesn’t grow then the state don’t grow. Also in Goa Industrial estates are backbone of state economy after tourism and mining but if government fails to pay attention to the needs of these industrial units then it is actually pushing state backward.
Herald contacted several industrial unit heads to know their views about their own industrial estate and most of them said that Sancoale industrial estate which was once pride of Mormugao Taluka as it was providing jobs to hundreds of locals have indeed become a ‘Junkyard’ and industrial units wants state government to remove this tag.
