SALIGAO: On the occasion of World Environment Day on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that companies with non-functional Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) will be shut down.
On Friday, members of the Saligao Civic and Consumer Cell (SCCC) discovered during a surprise inspection of the Hindustan Waste Treatment Plant (HWTP) that the ETP at the plant was discharging effluents into the environment.
“Unable to bear the stink during the last four days, we in the presence of two plant officials and members of Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) discovered that the ETP was releasing sludge into the open and was the primary cause of the foul smell that all villagers had to endure,” said Ashley Delaney, member of Garbage Committee and Waste Management.
“The stench has been there since the plant started in 2014, but in the last four days it got so unbearable that people in southern Saligao could not eat food and that is why we sounded the authorities that we were coming for an inspection,” said Mario Cordeiro, Secretary of SCCC.
This report was submitted to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) on Friday, June 7.
“I have not seen the report but some of my staff went to the site to inspect and have collected some samples. Once I go through the report, I will comment,” said Shamila Monteiro, Secretary of Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB).
The inspection report submitted on Friday, amongst other things stated:
“During inspection of the ETP plant it was noticed that tyre tracks were going towards the border wall of the plant, towards Calangute, and a pipe was visible at the rear of the plant,” the report stated.
“On closer inspection, it was found that a large amount of waste, which clearly appeared to be blackish in colour and smelling with a very pungent odour at a freshly dumped site, had accumulated at the corner of the compound wall. It was almost one meter deep in the corner, which was at a much lower level,” the report stated.
“HWTP is a treatment plant and not a dump. Unfortunately, waste that comes here is not being treated. By not treating the waste and just allowing it to be dumped, the tax payers’ money is being wasted,” emphasised Cordeiro.
Cordeiro along with Goa Foundation, had approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) when the plant was being set.
“On further inspection, it was revealed, that the sludge was being emptied just behind the tree line, but within the wall of the compound premises of the HWTP. The dumping existed over an area that exceeded 100 meters. The sludge was visible only on close inspection, and was hidden from visible sight due to dense trees,” read the report.
“Along the centre of where the entire sludge was collected (closer to the corner), a couple of holes in the wall was borne in the wall and sludge was flowing outside the walls, from the plant premises. This was contaminating the land around and down the hillside, leaching into the ground of Calangute and therefore leaking into Salmona (Saligao),” stated the inspection report.
The report also stated that "the plant in charge M/s Gargi could not provide any explanation for the dumping ,claiming ignorance, and suggested that night soil tankers were entering the plant at night and dumping in the premises, which could explain the sludge.”
“Plant in charge did not show the team any by-product of sludge of wet waste that was being treated claiming 100 % recycling. This is technically not possible, and could indicate a non-functional or improperly functioning ETP,” suggested the report.
“The stench was so foul in the last four days that it wafted into Pilerne and parts of Candolim. The people in those areas are not complaining because they are scared. People are suffering in silence because the government is revengeful,” concluded Cordeiro.
Present during the HWTP inspection were Celso Fernandes, technical engineer; Raynon Fernandes, resident of Saligao; Ashley Delaney; Gargi Raoti, HWTP plant in charge; and Vishal , Maintenance head of HWTP.