TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: There’s finally good news in store for Navelim villagers, who have been waging a battle to restore the pristine glory of once picturesque Salpem lake.
The government has now accepted a plan mooted by Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado to beautify the lake on the lines of the famous Mayem lake in North Goa. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has accepted the proposal to beautify and develop the lake bordering Navelim and Margao.
Avertano told the Chief Minister that he has taken the people into confidence on the development of Salpem lake on lines of Mayem. “If the lake is developed, land losers can be rehabilitated with business stalls to sustain their livelihood”, he said.
On his part, the Chief Minister has promised that raw sewage water from Margao will stop flowing into the lake with the government planning to set up a pumping station at the Kudchadkar hospital to pump the raw sewage directly into the sewage treatment plant. “The pumping station will go a long way in preventing sewage water from flowing into the Salpem lake”, he added.
The previous Kamat government had proposed to acquire around three lakh sq mts of land in and around the Salpem lake in order to set up a buffer zone around the Sewage treatment plant. The plan, however, came in for strong opposition from the local farmers and residents, who opposed the plan tooth and nail. The demand for de-notification of the acquired land has been accepted by the Parrikar government in principle and a decision in that direction is likely to be taken at the Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister admitted that plans to de-silt and clean up the River Sal has not taken off till date. He, however, promised that the Goa State Pollution Control Board will soon take up a project to decontaminate the river.
