BASURI DESAI
Illegal filling of low lying areas at Morambi-Merces is in full swing and scrap yards are mushrooming in the entire fields.
The ugly state of affairs is taking place just a kilometre away from the Panjim city in between the Ribandar causeway and Merces-Old Goa highway.
The fields are openly being filled up by the owners violating all the environmental laws. It is not only the destruction of the environment but also the violations of other dozens of laws of the state.
A survey carried out by Herald revealed a shocking picture of the tiny land which has a thick carpet of mangroves. The mangroves are being cut to fill the land and make arrangements for dozens of scrap yard dealers to dump their scrap.
This tiny area has over 15 scrap yards, operated mostly by migrants. A couple of families are working for them to collect the scrap from different corners in the surrounding areas.
All these scrap yards are engaged in further destruction of the mangroves in the vicinity as the waste is being dumped openly in the backyard which is an open field and lies among a carpet of mangroves along the rivulet.
It is also found that there is one piggery farm located in the same area. The pig farm is in a very unhygienic condition and operated by one of the locals.
Inquiry revealed that over 40 families are also residing in the same vicinity. They are part of the scrap business. The living conditions are inhuman without any basic necessities. There is no proper electricity. A small room has electricity with one meter connection but consumers are over a dozen.
Water is provided by the tankers, but some families are using the same polluted water of the rivulet for consumption.
The basic health facilities for humans are non-existent and sources say there is every possibility of an epidemic breaking out in the same area.
There is not a single toilet facility in the entire area on the backdrop of so much of families who are working in scrap yards in the place.
The hutments are made of steel foils and waste wooden ply. Huts are situated on the bank of the rivulet and are in very mucky condition.
Authorities, including local panchayat, health authorities, forest and environment departments, local police and others have neglected the said act of illegalities that has led to the massive destruction of environment and construction of illegal shanties.
