Is the geo-bag technology an answer to the sewerage issues plaguing the commercial capital, resulting in the contamination of water bodies, including Sal, over the years?
The Goan posed this pointed query to the Water Resources Department (WRD) Minister Subhash Shirodkar seeking to know whether the technology or the early completion of the long-pending Margao sewerage project is an answer to the sewage issues plaguing the city.
Reason? Former chief minister Francisco Sardinha commissioned the 7.5MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) in Margao 23 years ago in 2000, but millions of litres of raw sewage from the city continues to flow into Sal day in and out to date for want of a sewerage network.
The decision to adopt the geo-bag technology is being seen in certain circles as a failure of the powers that be and successive governments to complete the ambitious sewerage project launched in the mid-80s.
The WRD Minister wriggled out of the situation saying while the geo-bag technology may help in stopping effluents from flowing into the river, he made it clear that strengthening the sewerage network by completing the long-pending work as per schedule is the permanent solution.
“Strengthening of the sewerage network in Margao is a must by a certain date and schedule,” he asserted.
“As I have said in the beginning, the geo-bag technology is a double edge operation. It is some sort of solution where the sewage networks do not exist. In Margao, we have MLA Digambar Kamat who is capable of completing the sewerage network. Geo-bag technology cannot be adopted as a permanent solution. The city will have to complete its sewerage network say by 2023,” he added.
When The Goan drew the attention of Margao MLA that former chief minister Sardinha had commissioned the 7.5MLD STP in 2000, Kamat said: “When Sardinha inaugurated the STP, there was no scheme for sewerage connections. The issue is not of STP but of households not taking the sewage connections. We have been trying to persuade people to take the connections. Now, since the government has come out with a scheme wherein households have to pay the connection charges through the monthly bills, we expect citizens to take the connections or the authorities will disconnect the water supply.”
Asked whether the geo-bag technology will be implemented at all the stormwater nullahs discharging sewage from Margao into the river Sal, Shirodkar said: “I am ready to adopt the technology at all the nullahs, provided the company gives a cost-effective estimate.”
Around half-a-dozen nullahs in the commercial capital are presently discharging raw sewage into Sal, right from Davondem in Fatorda to Khareband in Margao.
