Day one of the exercise unearthed a number of residential houses which had sewage pipes connected to the river. Out of the 40 houses surveyed by a panchayat team headed by Sarpanch Melvyn Sanches, around 25 houses were found discharging waste in the river.
The exercise which began from Rangali area ended at Bapsora around noon. The Velim sarpanch said that the Panchayat hopes to complete the exercise by July 31, the day when the panchayat is mandated to file a compliance report with the Goa state Pollution Control Board in a petition pending in the High Court in respect of the destruction of shell fish from river Sal.
“The problem of sewage discharge into the river Sal seems huge. Around 150-200 houses are located on the banks of river Sal, right from Rangali, Bapsora, Muxer and Cutbona”, he said.
Replying a question, Melvyn said the panchayat would issue show-cause notices to all the houses violating the norms under Water Act.
The panchayat action comes in the wake of directions issued by GSPCB to carry out inspection in order to verify the number of houses which have laid pipes, connecting the houses to the river Sal for sewage discharge. The GSPCB had issued directions to the panchayat body to get the pipes removed under the provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act.
Incidentally, the Balli Primary Health Centre officials were conspicuous by their absence for the inspection. Inquiries have revealed that the health officials have declined to join the inspection team on grounds that the GSPCB directions were issued to the Chinchinim Primary health Centre and the Pollution board made no mention of the Balli PHC.
