Panaji: After locals in Shristhal had raised fears of leakage in an industrial tank containing large quantities of spent wash molasses at the Canacona Industrial Estate, the state govt has decided to try composting the waste on a pilot basis for its safe disposal. NTS Blenders & Distillers Pvt Ltd, which manufactured liquor in a unit at the Canacona Industrial Estate, had stored the molasses.But the tank containing the around 55 lakh litres of spent wash molasses began developing leakages. The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has now noted that the molasses pose a grave environmental danger. The Board has withdrawn the consent to the unit.The spent wash molasses at the site is contained in a large metal tank and concrete tanks using tarpaulin.“Members also approved to send samples of spent wash molasses to National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) as well as the Board laboratory for analysis and the Board will undertake sample composting of the molasses by engaging the services of Abhinav Apte as a pilot project under guidance of Sharad Kale, an adviser on environment to the govt,” the GSPCB decided at its recent meeting.After the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) inspected the site in Shristhal last year, it directed the unit to remove and transport the spent molasses disposed in the trench dug out at site within two days.However, it was later seen by officials that the entire quantity was not cleared out by the unit from the trenches. After repeated directions, the Board inspection in Jan 2026 observed that the unit had backfilled the pit after removal of the spent wash molasses and also barricaded the area. Work of cutting up the metal tank containing the molasses had begun and the molasses was transferred to concrete tanks.But by Feb 2026, the GSPCB was told by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation that there was leakage of the molasses from the concrete tanks into the nullah downhill.The Board observed that the unit failed to cover the tanks as directed within the given time limit. The GSPCB found that there is grave environmental hazard posed by the faulty storage of the molasses.
