TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: State public sector sugar factory Sanjivani Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana has been directed by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) not to start operations in the next crushing season beginning November, until it obtains Consent to Operate certification under the Air and Water Pollution Control Acts from it.
The management of the sugar factory has also been directed to deposit a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh towards the installation of an effluent treatment plant (ETP) that is to be made operational within four months.
“Failing to adhere to these directions, will force the Board to issue a closure notice to the unit under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,” the notice signed by GSPCB member secretary Levinson Martins reads.
GSPCB chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said that despite repeated notices and reminders, the company has failed to install an ETP as per the norms, claiming that their unit runs on seasonal basis on an average duration of about 100 to 110 days in a year and it has no funds to install such systems.
Noronha said that during their personal hearing, company officials said that a proposal for installation of ETP has been submitted to Directorate of Agriculture under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and that they have accepted the proposal and have approved funding of 25 percent of the ETP cost.
The unit has now forwarded a proposal to the registrar of Co-operative Societies for the balance 75 percent funding in November 2014.
GSPCB has asked the company to ensure that the operation of ETP starts at least one month before commencement of the next crushing season. It has also been directed to form the action plan for proposed rain water management system and submit a compliance report to the GSPCB office within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Board’s directions.
