Polluting Colva hotels told to submit plan of action
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JUNE 25
The Goa State Pollution Control Board has given the several hotels in Colva, who were slapped with show-cause notices for violating Hazardous Waste Rules and Air and Water Act, time until this month-end to submit a plan of action to meet the measures set by the Board.
Representatives of the hotels, Colva Civic and Consumer Forum (the complainant) and the village panchayat officials attended a hearing on July 22 where the GSPCB officials made it clear the plan of action has to be ready within seven days.
It was made clear to the hotels, some of which have not set up sewerage treatment plants as per the Board’s recommendations, to submit a bank guarantee of Rs 1 lakh for installing the necessary equipment to take care of the sewage water.
Chairman of the Board Simon de Souza said, “Within seven days if the hotels don’t take the necessary steps to set up the STPs we will have no choice but to move for closure of the establishments that don’t show compliance.”
Officials who carried out inspections after the show-cause notice period ended on June 5 said the situation is not all that good in the area where sewage water was left untreated. There is some compliance but it is very minimal, they observed.
They said some of the hotels have a difficulty to set up the STPs as they don’t have enough space. These have to give us alternative solutions in the plan of action, they stated.
Thirteen of the hotels were slapped with notices for flouting the Air and Water Acts on May 20 and six among these were also found to be operating in contravention of the Hazardous Waste Rules. Directions were issued to the Colva village panchayat and the Directorate of Health Services to ensure that eateries, restaurants and shacks in the Colva area where the Board couldn’t do much discharged their solid waste and sewerage in a scientific manner.
CRUISE CONTROL: Meanwhile, some of the cruise boats which were found discharging wash water and sewage water in the river Mandovi in the capital city have been directed to install holding tanks on their vessels. These boats were also slapped with show-cause notices sometime in May.
A hearing of cruise boat representatives and officials of the Captain of Ports was held on June 18 where the former asked time to install the holding tanks for collection of toilet waste.
The CoP officials who were present also made it clear that they would see if the holding tanks are installed by the cruise boats before giving the sea worthiness certificates to the vessels which is an annual feature.
The Board asked the cruise boat representatives to submit a bank guarantee of Rs 1 lakh each installation of the holding tanks.
They have agreed to install the tanks in a phased manner by October this year.
