PANJIM: The NGO Goa Foundation has petitioned Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) demanding that the consent to establish granted to M/s Vani Agro Farms Pvt Ltd, be withdrawn immediately as the said permission may play havoc with pristine environment.
In a letter to GSPCB member secretary, GF director Dr Claude Alvares has demanded that the technically unsound consent to establish be withdrawn.
He pointed out that the consent gives nod for production of extra neutral alcohol at 26.50 ltrs per month and impure spirit at 1.50 ltrs per month. However, daily quantity of industrial effluent is permissible up to 315 KLD (kilo litres per day). The effluent treatment plant capacity permissible is 550 KLD.
“It appears to us that the consent is wholly defective as the production of 25.50 litres alcohol per month and 1.5 litres of spirit monthly could never produce industrial effluent to the extent of 350 KLD,” Alvares said.
Alvares said that the Board had already in a resolution decided to accept the zoning atlas prepared for the State, which does not permit red category industries anywhere in the State. “We would like to know how the present proposal could have been issued when it is contrary to the resolution of the Board,” he questioned.
“Under such situation, it is obvious that the consent to establish has been issued without application of mind and is defective or is been issued with the sole purpose of enabling M/s Vani Agro Farms Pvt Ltd to manufacture products at the site in quantities that will play havoc with a pristine environment,” he said.
