SGPDA market meat traders get 7-day breather to obtain consent to operate

Authorities defer sealing of shops following Environment minister’s intervention; vendors to submit docs detailing disposal of solid waste through proper channels

THE GOAN NETWORK | AUGUST 24, 2024, 12:59 AM IST

SGPDA market meat traders get 7-day breather to obtain consent to operate

MARGAO
Beleaguered meat traders operating in the SGPDA mega retail market got a seven-day breather to apply to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to obtain consent to operate and submit all documents detailing that the traders are disposing of their solid waste through proper channels.

The proposed action to seal the 42 chicken, mutton, beef and pork stalls in the SGPDA was deferred by the authorities on Friday following Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira’s intervention in the matter upon instructions of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

The Minister virtually set a seven-day deadline on the meat stall owners to apply to the GSPCB to obtain consent to operate the shops. As far as the disposal of the chicken, beef and mutton waste is concerned, the Minister directed the delegation of meat stall owners to produce the necessary documents to the SGPDA to substantiate their claim that they will dispose of their waste through proper channels.

Adopting a carrot and stick policy, the Environment Minister warned that the GSPCB will seal their premises if they default in complying with the directions. At the same time, Sequeira offered to bail them out if they cooperate with the Board officials by obtaining the consent to operate and make provision for disposal of the meat waste.

The meat traders later told the media that they will comply with the directions of the Environment Minister to obtain consent to operate and submit all documents pertaining to disposal of the meat waste.

The Environment Minister discussed the issue over the sealing of the meat shops in the SGPDA market with GSPCB senior officer Sanjeev Joglekar, SGPDA Member Secretary Sheikh Ali, Additional Collectors, Srinet Kothwale and Uday Prabhudesai, Salcete Mamlatdar Prataprao Gaonkar, besides the PDA meat stall vendors at the Friday darbar in the district Collectorate on Friday evening.

“I have been told by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to work out a solution to the issue of the meat stalls. This issue I had discussed during the Assembly session with SGDPA Chairman, MLA Krishna Salkar and others since the matter of waste disposal has come under the High Court scanner,” Sequeira later told the media.

The Environment Minister had no answer when the media drew his attention to the fact that the SGPDA mega retail market has been in operation for the last 20 years, but a common ETP is still not in place, other than saying the PDA will take necessary steps to find a solution to the problem of waste disposal.

Chicken meat traders claimed they are disposing of their waste to a firm at Pissurlem, while beef traders contended that their meat waste is sent back to the Goa Meat Complex for disposal. “We have asked the traders to produce documents stating they are indeed disposing of the waste,” he said.

To a question, Sequeira said the GSPCB will deal with the PDA as far as the ETP is concerned, adding that the meat traders are required to comply with the guidelines on safe disposal of the waste.

Planning body asked to obtain consent to operate mega market, set up ETP facility

MARGAO: In another significant development, the SGPDA has been told to immediately obtain the consent to operate from the Pollution Control Board and set in motion the process to set up an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in the complex.

After the Planning body was caught napping at a meeting in the Collectorate on Friday, Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira was point blank in saying the SGPDA will have to immediately apply to the GSPCB to obtain the consent to operate the mega market.

That’s not all. After it came to light that the PDA has failed to install an ETP in the market complex over the last two decades, the Environment Minister further said SGPDA will immediately set in motion the process to set up the ETP facility in the market complex.

With questions raised whether the SGPDA had obtained the mandatory consent to operate from the GSPCB when the market was commissioned two decades ago, Environment Minister instructed the SGPDA Member Secretary Sheikh Ali to apply to the Pollution Control Board for consent to operate the mega retail market, comprising of fish, vegetable, fruit market, besides meat stalls.

In fact, while briefing the media, Sequeira was categorical in saying that the SGPDA will have to obtain the consent to operate the mega retail market if the Planning body has not done so in the last 20 years.

SGPDA Member Secretary Sheikh Ali, who attended the meeting, could not explain why the PDA did not set up the ETP in the mega market. In this respect, Sequeira said the PDA member secretary has promised to kick start the process to set up the plant in the market complex.