PONDA: The residents of Undir in Bandora Panchayat on Tuesday morning sought divine intervention by offering gharane (prayer) to local deity ‘Maru Dev’ to protect their area, its environment and livelihood from threat posed due to ongoing 15 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) work.
The villagers feared that their area would witness flooding during monsoon if the sewage plant is constructed.
Convenor of Undir Paryavaran Rakshan Manch, Mukund Naik, a resident of Undir, said the locals offered prayer after some ‘outsiders’ during the recently held ‘Panchayat Chalo Abhiyan’ at Bandora had demanded that work on the STP at Undir be expedited.
Mukund said, “Since the past seven years they have been fighting against the project. The locals fear that filling of land will lead to flooding during monsoon, which will cause the entire residential area to stink. The surrounding hills would be cut for filling the low lying area which is a catchment area.”
He said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given permission to cut only 109 trees but there are around 30,000 trees that come under the project area .
Mukund informed that they met the government officials and also Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who has assured to look into the matter.
He said that the proposed land for the STP comes under CRZ and added that the livelihood of people dependent on fishing activities in Undir will be adversely affected due to STP.
