VASCO: The farming community from Sancoale has claimed that storm-water drains in their village were carrying sewage and garbage from the Zuarinagar slum into several acres of fields downstream, rendering them uncultivable.
The sewage issue was raised during a meeting called by the Sancoale panchayat and Zuari Industries Limited (ZIL) at Sancoale, on Saturday. The meeting was aimed at creating awareness among the farmers on modern farming methods, technology available to increase their yield, and schemes for them.
“The Zuarinagar slum is located atop the Sancoale hill. As they don’t have sewage connectivity, their sewage water, mixed with garbage, flows downstream through the storm-water drains and into our fields. This has been going on for the last few years, and thus, many farmers have stopped cultivating their fields. If the government wants to help us, it should first provide relief from this sewage mess and then create awareness about the schemes,” said a farmer during the meeting.
Sancoale Sarpanch Ramakant Borkar also acknowledged that the farmers from Sancoale had been complaining about the sewage menace, and thus, a solution to the same had to be found on priority.
He too claimed that many local farmers had abandoned their fields as the same was not fit for cultivation due to sewage and other effluents flowing into them.
