Team Herald
VASCO: The Sancoale Panchayat is shocked at and has decided to oppose tooth and nail, a fertilizer blending unit proposed at Zuarinagar, by M/s Zuari Agro Chemicals (ZACL).
The public hearing on the environmental impact of the unit by Goa state Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) is fixed at Jai Kissan Club hall in Zuarinagar on July 11.
Sancoale Sarpanch Ramakant Borkar told the reporters that he was shocked to hear the news of the expansion plan of ZACL and the same was proposed keeping panchayat body in dark.
“If ZACL has been intending to go for expansion and have also fixed a public hearing for the same, then why the GSPCB failed to intimate panchayat body before such decision. It looks like, ZACL doesn’t require panchayat at all and they would go ahead with whatever plans they have, which is incorrect as we would oppose the project tooth and nail,” he said.
“Presently with the existing units, ZACL claims that they are pollution free industries. However, in reality the ZACL has been polluting the environment in its surrounding, as they have been releasing ammonia taking advantage of rains against which the locals many times have raised their serious concerns, but no one till date paid any heed to the ill effects of ammonia,” he alleged.
“Similarly, ZACL has been releasing acids in natural drains which have been polluting the fields. Now if they want to expand their operations, then, they have to take the locals into confidence,” he said.
He, therefore, urged the GSPCB to postpone the proposed public hearing to a suitable date when maximum number of people could attend the hearing.
