PANJIM: The State government has decided to request the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to de-list five river-stretches — Chapora, Assonora, Valvonti, Khandepar and Talpona from the list of polluted rivers as the water quality is complying with the norms.
In 2018, the CPCB in a list submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), had named River Mandovi, Zuari, Sal, Talpona, Assonora, Bicholim, Chapora, Khandepar, Sinquerim, Tiracol and Valvanti as polluted rivers under Criteria III, IV and V, that is having Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) between 10-20 mg/l, between 6-10 mg/l and between 3-mg/l. Total 11 rivers were identified in the polluted list.
During the State River Rejuvenation Committee (RRC-Goa) meeting held on Wednesday, Secretary Environment Arun Kumar Mishra reviewed the follow-up action and sought status update from all the stakeholder departments concerned in respect of on-site implementation of various action plan strategies enumerated in the action plan prepared for rejuvenation of 11 polluted river-stretches.
The meeting reviewed the assessment of water-quality parameters-PH, Dissolve-Oxygen (DO) and BOD), total/faecal-colliform as per the CPCB’s classification in respect of trend for a period from May 2019 to April 2021.
During the review, it was noted that out of 11 river-stretches, five river-stretches namely Chapora, Assonora, Valvonti, Khandepar and Talpona complies with the CPCB-prescribed standards.
“Accordingly, the RRC-Goa during the said meeting has proposed to request the CPCB to ‘de-list’ these stretches from the list of polluted river-stretches,” the press statement reads.
Further, Mishra reiterated the need for continued efforts to address the data-gaps on priority through inter-departmental dialogues and achieve the contemplated targets of delisting remaining six river-stretches.
As per the CPCB report, eight river-stretches fall under Category V; these are -– Assonora to Sirsaim (Assonora), Bicholim to Curchirem (Bicholim), Ponda to Opa (Khandepar), along Candolim (Sinquerim) along Tiracol (Tiracol), Sanquelim–Bicholim to Poriem (Valvanti) and Curchorem to Madkai (Zuari).
Two river-stretches fall under Category IV; these are — Marcela to Volvoi (Mandovi) and along Canacona (Talpona). The river-stretch from Khareband to Mobor (Sal) falls under Category III.
