MARGAO
River Sal is under the scanner with raw sewage flowing from Margao and Fatorda, contaminating the river, considered Salcete’s lifeline.
But, welcome to the commercial capital, where overflowing soak pits and septic tanks are posing a nuisance and a health hazard to the residents and visitors, including school children, across the city.
Otherwise, consider this. Wastewater has been overflowing from the drain adjoining the district police headquarters onto the main road, which is being used by hundreds, if not thousands of students of the city schools, their parents and general citizens daily.
Just metres away near Cine Lata, overflowing sewage has accumulated right at the entrance to a housing society, with the waters even entering the society. Sewage has been gushing out of a building at Pajifond alongside the main road, emanating foul odour, posing a nuisance and health hazard to the citizens.
These three instances are just the tip of the iceberg with reports suggesting there may be dozens of housing societies, whose sewage either overflows onto the roads or in drains before the water finds its way into the stormwater nullahs leading to the river Sal.
The situation has also brought to the fore a host of questions – Is there no underground sewage line passing through the Margao police station road or near Cine Lata or at Pajifond around the power sub-station area? If yes, how come the sewage continues to overflow on the roads and drains? Have the housing societies and establishments failed to connect their septic tanks and soak pits to the underground sewage line, laid by the government by spending crores of rupees?
PWD officials in the know were point blank in saying that the matter pertaining to overflowing sewage falls in the domain of the Margao municipal body.
A visit to the Margao municipal sanitation section revealed that there’s no dearth of complaints received from residents, complaining of nuisance posed by overflowing sewage into housing societies and on the roads.
Inquiries further reveal that the MMC sanitation section sends show-cause notices to the erring societies and establishments, warning of water disconnection if the nuisance is not abated forthwith. Sadly, in most cases, neither is the nuisance abated by the unscrupulous establishments and societies nor has the civic body or the Health department disconnected any water or power supply to the erring societies to date for reasons best known to the civic Babus and the powers that be.
What is surprising to note is that there’s no quick action coming from the civic authorities to stem the rot, as is evident in the case of the overflowing wastewater right at the intersection of the police station road, visited by thousands of students, parents and citizens every day.
A member of a housing society told The Goan that hardly any action comes from the civic body to the overflowing gutters, spewing out filthy water into the society's entry road.
“We had knocked on the doors of the civic body in July last. The wastewater continues to overflow right at the society’s entrance to date,” the member lamented.
He added: “Is it not a surprise that sewage overflows on the road and in gutters when an underground sewage line is passing by the area? Why no urgency is shown by the civic authorities and the elected representatives to get the establishments connected to the underground line.”
