Colva forum complains about p'yat's lack of garbage management
MARGAO
Is there any bar to issue permissions to new commercial structures including hotels comprising of more than four units as per the High Court order dated August 13, 2013?
Well, this question came up before the Member Secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Dr Shamila Monteiro last week after the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum objected to the grant of NOCs / permissions by the Colva panchayat to new commercial structures/hotels as well as the issue of Consent to Establish/operate by the GSPCB to such structures.
Forum Secretary Judith Almeida has claimed before the GSPCB that the consent to operate as well as the permission to the new hotels and commercial establishments have been issued in violation of the directions of the High Court dated 13/8/2013 passed in SMWP/2/2007.
After the first hearing, the GSPCB Member Secretary has decided to initiate action in the matter and shall also issue notice to the Village Panchayat of Colva, besides the hotel in question.
The Board has decided to seek the presence of the Panchayat body as well as that of the hotel and elicit their say as to why the consent to establish issued by the Board should not be revoked.
Even as the GSPCB has set in motion the process to determine whether the High Court directions bar permissions for new hotels and commercial establishments, the Civic Forum has contended that despite large sums of money being spent appointing agencies and daily wage labourers including the setting up of a MRF there is a serious lack of management of garbage by the Village Panchayat of Colva, garbage is still found dumped, littered, burnt along roadsides, in water bodies and in fields.
In this context, a GSPCB team is believed to have conducted an inspection of various sites in Colva village which are prone to waste disposal and dumping. The GSPCB came upon a request from the Forum to conduct a discrete inspection of all the village roads and ensure a proper comprehensive system is put in place.
During the hearing, Forum Secretary Judith Almeida claimed that two hotels, one with 99 rooms and the other 18-room hotel have still not obtained the consent to operate from the GSPCB till date.
Judith said the Forum is raising objections to issue of Consent to operate for these two hotels till the issue of garbage management is not solved. “Operation of such a large hotel will only increase pollution due to garbage in the village. It is surprising that the GSPCB granted NOC to establish to such a large commercial establishment despite being aware that Colva Panchayat has not been able to resolve garbage management”, she argued before the GSPCB Member Secretary.
“This forum has been monitoring and filing complaints of lack of management of garbage by the village panchayat. Hence, it is also known that these hotels and commercial establishments obtain NOCs, permissions, licences by providing certificates for a fee from private garbage management agencies before obtaining Occupancy Certificate, etc only to discontinue their services after the occupancy is obtained," she added.
