Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: The Bombay high court on Wednesday expanded the scope of its suo motu PIL on dead fish floating in Mala Lake to include the Mandovi river line area to remedy the water pollution.The court took cognisance of a TOI report on Goa state pollution control board’s (GSPCB) qualitative and quantitative study of water in the Mandovi. The bench noted the “alarming findings” of the report.The court stated that the main issue that needs to be addressed would be the very high quantity of faecal coliform bacteria present in the river around the area where the casinos are operating.The bench of justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar directed the member secretary of the GSPCB to conduct a similar quantitative and qualitative study and prepare a report on the quality of water within the Mandovi, more particularly at the estuary of the river between the Iffi jetty and Mandovi bridges.“The study shall more particularly stress on collecting the information as to the quality of water around each of the casinos stationed there or any other marine craft, which are used for tourism purposes within that area,” the court stated, directing the report to be placed before it on June 1.The high court also directed the GSPCB, on the basis of data already available with them, to commence taking action based on the report, and place it before the court on June 1.On the Mala lake issue, the report of the joint site inspection by the GSPCB, water resources department and fisheries department pointed to contamination of water due to sewage discharge. The report recorded that waste water (sewage) from residential areas along the western periphery of the lake was seen flowing into the lake through stormwater drains. “These observations highlight the fact that sewage is being discharged directly into the lake by the residents along the western periphery of the lake,” the court noted.It directed the CCP commissioner to conduct a joint inspection of each residential house to ascertain the exact cause for the presence of faecal coliform bacteria, and identify their sources.“If such discharge is in fact found in any particular home-shed, the commissioner shall take immediate action to seal or remedy the situation,” the HC stated, adding that in case of environmental degradation and health hazards, no notices are required before sealing or taking action under the CCP Act and Public Health Act.During the hearing, the CCP told the court that there are between 800 and 1,000 residences within 200m of the lake’s periphery, of which 200 have been inspected so far and 31 show cause notices have been issued.The Sewerage and Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa told the court that it runs a pumping station where a portion of the sewage is pumped to the STP at Tonca and the rest to the STP at EDC Patto. The corporation told the court that the treated water from the STPs at Tonca and Patto are pumped into the Mandovi and not the Mala lake.The corporation’s counsel, Akshata Bhat, placed before the court a water analysis report from the STP at Patto indicating that the water has been fully treated before it is discharged into the Mandovi.
