TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Goa State Pollution Control Board has decided to make construction of a sewage treatment plant (STP) mandatory in all future housing projects with 24 flats or more, failing which they would not be granted construction licences/consents to establish.
The proposal passed during the GSPC board meeting on Wednesday, would be moved to Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) to incorporate the same in their Building and Construction bylaws, Chairman Jose Manual Noronha told reporters after the meeting.
Noronha said that henceforth all the mega housing projects will have to install STP to prevent ground water contamination as in the case of septic tanks. “Failure to follow the norms will force government refuse construction licence or consent to establish. We would ask TCP to make necessary provisions,” he said.
In Goa, currently it’s compulsory for hotels having 24 rooms to install STP. The Board had recently issued show cause notices to several hotels after they were found operating in violation of consent norms.
“As per the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO) manual, water consumption per person per day is 135 litres in cities/towns with sewerage system. Hence the water consumption for 24 flats in the residential complex is 10/12 kilo litres per day (KLD) and waste generation is 8.1KLD,” the proposal moved before the Board members reads.
“In case of hotels, the water consumption is 9 KLD and waste generation is 7.5 KLD. Hence it can be seen that the water consumption for a building of 24 flats is more compared to hotels and hence it is proposed that residential complexes too install STP,” it added.
