TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: The residents of Akamol in Ambaulim village are crying foul over the acute pollution in the adjoining Cuncolim Industrial Estate, complaining of skin infections and other respiratory problems on account of pollution.
The residents along with Cuncolim MLA Rajan Naik and GIDC officials conducted an inspection of the industrial estate and found to their shock and surprise how even a water way acting as drainage for water flowing down the hillock is blocked by dumping of industrial waste by unscrupulous industrial owners.
Saying that untreated waste water is discharged in the storm water drains in flagrant violation of the rules in force, the residents complained of industrial workers answering nature’s call in the open fields, polluting the environment. “We have been facing this air pollution all these years. Our fields have been devastated by discharge of waste water. People are suffering from skin and respiratory diseases”, maintained a lady resident.
Moved by the plight of the villagers, the Cuncolim MLA recalled that he had raised the issue in the Assembly in the past and underlined the need for action to curb pollution. ‘People here say that pollution has affected cattle fertility. The labourers are staying in rented premises which have no facility for toilets. They not only defecate in the fields, but also steal their farm produce”, Naik said.
He promised to hold another inspection of the industrial estate along with Goa State Pollution Control Board and IDC officials in an attempt to work out a permanent solution to the pollution issue.
Incidentally, when the villagers along with the local MLA and IDC officials visited the industrial estate, they were greeted with thick smoke billowing from an unit. Residents of Akamol had been complaining that the smoke and dust settle down in the inhabited area over the years, with complaints made to authorities falling on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, John Monteiro, who also accompanied the inspection team, called upon the local MLA to curb pollution before the conclusion of the ongoing Assembly session. The situation is turning from bad to worse. These hapless residents should get justice”, he told the people while addressing the gathering, threatening to file a PIL in the high court if the government fails to mete out justice for the villages of Akamol-Ambaulim.
