Team Herald
Margao: The Goa State Pollution Control Board today inspected the Madel open space following a complaint by the United Goans Foundation.
The United Goans Foundation complained and demanded the GSPCB take action against the dumping of untreated and contaminated Sonsoddo garbage which includes mud in the fields and other low-lying areas of Fatorda and its surrounding.
The Junior Engineer, Environment of GSPCB Digvijay Dessai, Shashank Dessai, Ashish Kamat of UGF were present for the inspection. The sanitation inspector of the MMC and the GSIDC officials were asked to be present at the inspection but they did not turn up till afternoon. The GSPCB official later went to the Sonsoddo dump and took samples of the mud.
The Engineer Shashank Dessai when asked whether the GSIDC has permissions to dump the waste here said “There is no request to do so on record by GSIDC as far as our office is concerned”. Ashish Kamat of UGF said the GSIDC officials had earlier lied that they had permissions for dumping waste here.
“We will record the observations and also see what is happening at the Sonsodo dump site” said the engineer.
The UGF President Ashish Kamat said “Today the sample of the mud could not be taken as a layer of red mud was on the Sonsoddo mud. The second complaint is also of the tendering process of the screening work which we will follow into later,” said Ashish.
The GSPCB Engineers revealed the last time they took samples of the dump mud at Sonsoddo they found heavy metals and other substances in the same.
It may be recalled the UGF had filed a complaint of the Sonsoddo mud being dumped into the low lying field in Madel and had mentioned that the mud will further contaminate the land and the water source with heavy metals. The GSPCB will now inspect the elements and report the same as a part of further inquiry.
