CALANGUTE: The recent sealing of most beach shacks in the Calangute-Candolim beach belt has once again highlighted the problem of their sewage disposal. The shacks were sealed following a High Court order as they were found to be operating without the consent to operate from the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), and disposing off their toilet waste in illegal soak pits or in the open or sea.
The High Court had put stringent conditions for the shacks to reopen. One of the main conditions is to install tanks to collect toilet waste which has to be then disposed of properly. Many of the shacks have reopened after complying with the guidelines, stakeholders said.
“From what we have been told by GSPCB officials, only those shacks with a road access within 30 mtrs are given the consent-to-operate as it will be possible for sewage tankers to reach them,” Traditional Shacks Owners Association President Manuel Cardozo said.
“But many of the shacks don’t have road access, so it will not be possible for sewage tankers to reach them. So what can they do?” Cardozo pointed out.
He said with the tourism department collecting huge license fees, they should make a provision to collect the toilet waste water, just like how garbage is being cleared, by providing shacks with the sewage suction tankers which could travel on the beach stretch.
Meanwhile, following demands from shack owners, the Calangute panchayat in a resolution earlier this week has decided to collect the sewage from beach shacks from the next tourism season in October. Calangute has around 125 sanctioned beach shacks, the highest at any beach in the state.
The resolution states: “The Calangute panchayat resolves to collect ‘waste water’ from all temporary shacks within the jurisdiction of Calangute village with a trolley and tank having a capacity of 5,000 ltrs. The waste water will be transported to the sewerage treatment plant approved by the state government in panchayat night soil tanker having a volume capacity of 8,000ltrs.”
