False hopes: Hazardous waste removal at Cuncolim IDC hits roadblock as govt fails to release funds
It was mid-November 2023. An announcement by the chairman of Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Mahesh Patil stated that the Board had received a grant of Rs five crore to transport hazardous waste lying at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, which triggered jubilation and hopes that the IIDC will be finally rid of the two-decade-old hazardous dump.
Powers that be even rushed to claim credit for having forced the government to bow down to sustained pressure to sanction the Rs five crore grant towards the transportation of the waste to the hazardous landfill site at Pissurlem. GSPCB chairman Patil, on his part, had maintained that the pollution control board would set in motion the process to comply with the codal formalities before shortlisting an agency to execute the work of transporting the hazardous waste from Cuncolim IDC to Pissurlem.
Exactly six months down the line, the ground reality, however, has not changed for the better at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate. Leave alone transporting the hazardous waste to Pissurlem, even the process of inviting tenders to execute the work is yet to take off to date.
Reason: The government’s promised grant is yet to become a reality, leaving the GSPCB with no option but to brace up to carry out the annual ritual of covering the hazardous dump with tarpaulin sheets to prevent contamination of water during the monsoons.
When ‘The Goan’ sought to ascertain from the GSPCB the status of the work of transportation of the hazardous waste from Cuncolim to Pissurlem, chairman Patil was candid in admitting the work could not commence till date. Reason: Other than receiving the letter sanctioning the grant, the GSPCB is yet to receive the promised funds to execute the work.
“Somehow, the GSPCB did not receive the promised grant from the government. As such, we could not set in motion the process to comply with the codal formalities. The process will kick-start as and when the board receives the promised funds,” he said.
Taking no chances and with monsoons just a fortnight away, the GSPCB chairman pointed out that the board has issued an order to cover the hazardous dump at the Cuncolim IDC on a war footing before the onset of monsoons.