Margao: A Right to Information (RTI) reply shows regulatory deficiencies in the construction of a sewage treatment plant at Curchorem, as the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) said that no environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted before the commencement of the project.The RTI response, dated June 25, said that the GSPCB has no records of the EIA being conducted for the STP being constructed at survey No. 505, Cacora, within the jurisdiction of Curchorem Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC). Activists said that the GSPCB’s statement that “EIA report not available with the board” directly contradicts mandatory requirements under the EIA notification 2006 and an NGT judgment (application no. 124 of 2013), which mandates prior environmental clearance for STP construction.In its judgment, the NGT, referring to the guidance manual dealing with EIA clearance of effluent treatment plants, issued by the environment ministry said, “The bare reading of the (guidance manual) shows that establishment, expansion and even modernisation of combined effluent treatment plants require environment clearance. Any treatment plant that deals with such effluents having more than 10% of industrial contributions by volume has to be treated as a combined effluent treatment plant.”Activist Aditya Dessai said that “as the same sewage line passes through the Cacora Industrial Estate, and would also carry all types of effluents, it is plainly evident that the project requires environment clearance”. The board confirmed that while No Objection Certificates from the town and country planning department and the local municipality were issued, these clearances were granted without any environmental assessment. Water quality data before construction, public consultation records, and mangrove destruction estimates are also missing from official records, the RTI reply said.Dessai said, “The STP’s location on the Zuari bank has resulted in large-scale destruction of mangroves through filling of the riverbed within the high tide line, thereby violating provisions of Section 24(1)(b) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.”Dessai said that Rajasthan high court order of Oct 24, 2024, prohibits illegal constructions and encroachments on riverbeds, floodplains and river catchments. The court had directed state chief secretaries and the jal shakti ministry to ensure compliance with anti-encroachment measures.
