TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: A Japanese firm will study the carcinogenic chromium contents in River Sal and Bethora rivulet which run parallel to the industrial estates where metal processing units are located.
The 18-month project is funded and supervised by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and it is estimated to cost approximately $ One million. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Goa State Pollution Control Board and Asahi Geo Survey Company Ltd, Japan, in August, 2013.
Addressing media persons on Tuesday, GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha along with experts from Japan said, that the report of sample from 78 different spots from River Sal, Cuncolim industrial estate (Sunrise Zinc and Nicomat) and Bethora rivulet sent to a Chennai laboratory for analysis, will be received in two weeks. Thereafter they would identify the source of carcinogens getting into the water-bodies.
If water bodies are found to be contaminated with carcinogenic chromium content, which are health hazards, remedies would be suggested by Asahi.
Kanji Tamamushi (Panasonic Excel International Corporation) and Shunsuke Kawakami (Asahi Geo Survey Co. Ltd) and Indian researcher P Sreenivasalu Reddy along with Professor Dr Joe D’Souza are working on this project which began in September last year and will end in February 2015.
Goa has 162 hazardous waste generating industries churning out 50,000 tons of waste annually, which is sent for disposal at a facility at Taloja in Maharashtra as Goa does not have such facility.
