MARGAO: The Cuncolim Citizens Action Front (CCAF), demanded that a plant at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate be closed down immediately, as the management is not serious about dealing with the hazardous waste produced by it.

The front also claimed that the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), had served a show cause notice on the plant, after the board allegedly found that the company has not honoured the commitments made before the courts, and had started a new plant without taking the requisite permissions from the board.
The GSPCB had inspected the company premises on June 28, following a complaint lodged by the front and officials allegedly found that the company had started a Nickel plant without the required permission from the GSPCB. This stipulation as required under the Water and Air Act was not taken by the company.
According to the front, samples taken from four wells in the surrounding area revealed that the water was polluted with high levels of cadmium, copper, manganese and iron. The front also alleged that “more worrying is the fact that the water in the Selaulim irrigation canal, that passes by the company, is also turning acidic in nature. In fact, the acidity of the water is found way above the acceptable norms in samples, taken from the water from the canal near the plant, and 100 meters downstream.”
The front further argued that this could translate into the death of crops, which are irrigated by this water, “thereby defeating the very purpose of setting up the irrigation facility by spending crores of rupees.”
A press note issued here also states that, the inspection also revealed that the company has not honoured its commitment made to the courts, including the Supreme Court, vis-à-vis the treatment of accumulated hazardous waste, which was found lying in two heaps maintained in a totally unscientific manner and in contravention of the established protocols for handling hazardous waste.
The company’s defence that they had the approval from the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests and the High Powered Coordination Committee of the state government, apparently did not cut ice with the GSPCB, as these clearances were merely to set up the plant, while for its actual operations, the Board’s permission was required.
The front also pointed out that a similar company, Ms Sunrise Zinc, has suddenly closed shop in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate and has left the place without taking care of its waste, which is still lying in the industrial estate.