TUESDAY, JULY 09, 2024
Team Herald
VASCO: Nuvem locals on Friday marched to Verna in protest against the Solid Waste Management Plant planned in the industrial estate. Speaking to reporters on Friday evening, local Everson Vales criticised the recent press release from the Goa Expert Appraisal Committee (GSEAC), which put the clearance for the plant on hold.
"The GSEAC has instructed the project proponent to conduct ‘new public hearings’ and collect ‘community inputs’ when no public hearing has been actually held. The plant is being set up on a huge aquifer that is the origin of various springs that feed the Ambulor lake, which is the starting point of River Sal," said Vales, calling it a case study of how the government and its agencies operate in an ad hoc manner, showing little respect for the law or due process.
Social Activist Zarine Da Cunha pointed out that the plant is being set up only 350 metres from human settlements and close to several pharma industries. Da Cunha also noted inaccuracies in the project report submitted by the proponents, such as the distance between the Mahalsa temple and the site being falsely recorded as 10.7 km when it is actually 2.2 km. Additionally, there is a chapel just 239 meters from the proposed plant site.
"Constituents of Nuvem Constituency will under no circumstances permit this project detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the ecology of the villages and their people to be foisted upon us," stated social activist Arvind Menezes, who also criticized the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and the Goa State Pollution Control Board for their failure to monitor pollution levels in the Verna Industrial Estate.
Menezes also called out the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) for mismanagement of the Saligao waste management plant, which has created health and environmental hazards for nearby residents.
Menezes argued that the GWMC's track record makes it unsuitable for managing the Verna project, which is in an ecologically fragile area.
