Team Herald
Calangute: The new sewerage treatment plant (STP) at Baga, which had recently started, is operating without any permissions, the Calangutepanchayat has alleged.
Calangutepanchayat members on Wednesday conducted a site inspection of the STP following complaints that raw sewage was being released in the Bagariver.
The sarpanch, Joseph Sequeira, said they have been informed by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) that no consent-to-operate has been given to the STP and the village panchayat has also not given an occupancy certificate to the structure.
“We have told the STP management to immediately stop the plant and to take all the necessary permissions before re-commencing operations,” Sequeira said.
He said that during the site inspection on Wednesday, they found that untreated sewage was being released in the Bagariver. “Tourism is our main industry, and sewage being released like this in the Bagariver will adversely affect the beach. We cannot allow this to happen,” he said.
“We had a meeting with the Goa State Pollution Control Board on Tuesday and we were informed that the GSPCB has not given the consent-to-operate. We have told the STP management to stop all operations till they get all the permissions,” the sarpanch said.
“The STP was for Calangute but no sewerage connections have been given to anyone in Calangute. We found that sewerage tankers are coming here from Porvorim, Mapusa and other places. When they started operations recently, they were to treat sewage from beach shacks, but none of these sewage tankers are collecting sewage from beach shacks,” he said.
Sequeira said the panchayat would be writing to the electricity department to disconnect the electricity supply to the plant as they have not obtained the occupancy certificate from the village panchayat.
