Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Residents of Saipem ward in Candolim held a protest meeting on Wednesday evening against the Berger-Becker paint factory at Pilerne which was recently destroyed in a massive inferno and demanded that the government should not give them permission to restart operations.
The massive disaster had adversely affected residents of Saipem ward which is adjacent to the Pilerne Industrial Estate with toxic fumes causing breathing problems and well waters getting contaminated with the run-off of chemicals and other substances from the factory located atop a hillock.
One of the residents, Assis Cardozo, said they had opposed the setting up of the factory around 2010 fearing pollution, but had been assured that adequate safety measures would be in place and there would be no problems for villagers. In the years since, other factories have also been set up in the estate.
Now, however, their worst fears have come true with the fire disaster on January 10, residents said. “Berger-Becker had assured us that they had put all safety measures in place so as not to affect people, but that has turned out to be a false assurance,” Cardozo said.
“We had to leave our homes when the fire happened after people started choking because of the poisonous fumes. We couldn’t bear the smoke. Two days later we found our wells were polluted,” a resident said.
The residents said Goa State Pollution Control Board officials who visited the area some days ago claimed that there is nothing to fear. “They’re saying only four wells are polluted. They’re making a mockery of us,” the residents said.
“We are all united and hope the government listens to us. We don’t want Berger-Becker here. We appeal to the government to act at the earliest and close down the factory,” they said.
