Team Herald
MARGAO: There was a major controversy on Friday evening when Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas and people from the village discovered that raw sewage was being discharged directly into River Sal, right next to the government’s Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Shirvodem, Navelim.
While the MLA called for Environment and PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral to resign, given that both his departments are responsible for this lapse, he also called on Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the South Goa District Collector to take immediate action and stop the contamination of the river with septic waste. “For weeks now, there have been complaints from people of the Benaulim constituency over the pollution of River Sal. Just look at how black the water is. We can see that sewage is being released into it,” the MLA pointed out, for the benefit of the STP staff who were present at the site.
Earlier, the MLA and the delegation accompanying him visited the Shirvodem STP that is managed by the Sewerage and Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa Ltd (SIDCGL).
“We were shown that everything is working
perfectly, but when we followed this pipeline, we were shocked to see what was happening here,”
Viegas added.
The delegation and MLA then questioned the STP workers in the presence of media persons as to how this is taking place and they replied that they are waiting for funds of around Rs 2-5 lakh that need to be sanctioned by the government, to carry out the remainder of work needed to stop the discharge.
When the MLA asked them to immediately stop it, they were unable to comply and said they were waiting for directions from their higher ups. Viegas warned them that an FIR would be lodged against them for allowing sewage to be dumped into the river, which is the lifeline of Salcete and that this contamination of the water bodies would have a huge impact across people living in the taluka.
Viegas also said the Union Environment Ministry should be apprised of this situation. It may be recalled that the issue of River Sal being contaminated, especially in Navelim, where the STP is situated, has even been taken up by the High Court, following a petition filed by a local resident.
Herald has also extensively reported on how sewage is being discharged into the river not only at Shirvodem, but also other places across Salcete, polluting water bodies and having a devastating impact on farmers and their once fertile fields.
