Slag fills canal, houses threatened with flooding in Bhoma

Residents of Bhoma are annoyed over discharge of industrial waste in the village, claiming that tonnes of slag have flowed into the village due to heavy rains in the area.

Villagers claimed that it has been over a year since they have been demanding action against some industries for dumping large quantities of slag along the village boundary but stated that their demands have fallen on deaf ears.

“Large amounts of slag have been flowing with the rainwater and have partially filled the canal. When it rains heavily, the canal is bound to overflow and this will endanger about eight houses adjacent to the canal,” said a villager.

According to information, some industries at the Kundaim Industrial Estate have acquired private land to dump the slag.

“We have been requesting the panchayat to take action against the dumping of slag along the village boundary since the last one year. Now, the slag is slowly flowing down and the canal has been filled with the slag,” said Sanjay Naik from Bhoma.

Bhoma-Adcolna Deputy Sarpanch Damodar Naik said the panchayat had already informed various government departments concerned, about the situation and the imminent problem facing the village.

“The manner in which the departments concerned have responded gives us the impression that authorities are least bothered about the problem. If this continues, a day will come when villagers will be forced to take law in their hands to stop the companies discharging the slag,” warned Naik.

Later, the manger of a company was called to the site and he assured to remove the slag from the canal. A couple of workers were seen removing the slag from the canal for some time but after a few hours, the work stopped and villagers claimed that there was no response either from the panchayat or company officials.

Apart from the slag, villagers informed Herald that there was a proposal to build a retaining wall along the eight houses to prevent water from entering these houses. However nothing has been done in this regard.

Former Priol MLA, Adv Vishwas Satarkar, along with Priol BJP Block President Satish Madkaikar visited the site and assured to take up the issue with the State government.

“We will write to the Water Resource Department and also seek the intervention of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in this issue. This is man-made calamity and we will demand swift action,” Satarkar told Herald.

Madkaikar said the Water Resource Department should be held responsible for the delay in building the retaining wall as there is an imminent threat to about eight houses.

Incidentally, inquires at the Water Resource Department revealed that the file pertaining to construction of the retaining wall has been pending due to technical reasons.