People of Saligao facing serious health hazardSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT SHARE <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20> · PRINT<http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2237507.ece?css=print> · T+<http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2237507.ece#>
Garbage from Calangute beach being dumped on hill top In Saligao, coastal village in north Goa's tourism belt, particularly in places such as Salmona-Arrarim, things are getting worse by the day as people of the villages are increasingly complaining about the unbearable stink emanating from the nearby hill. There are garbage dumps which have been annoying the people of the village. Tourism-waste and some other junk, mostly from the nearby Calangute beach belt, is being dumped on the hill that sits atop the village. *Court order* The issue came up strongly at the gram sabha meeting on Sunday and villagers and panchas underlined the seriousness of the problem cutting across party lines. “The stink is unbearable now,” said Sitaram Mahale, a village tailor, who lives in the area. “We even approached the court and got an order in July 2003 but it has been repeatedly violated,” said Joaquim D'Mello, a retired bank manager. Over the years, a huge village stone quarry has been filled with mountains of thrash, which has leached into the area, contaminating the drinking water wells. At the gram sabha meet, the people of the village raised other issues of garbage. While panchayat members pointed out that they were working on regular garbage collection drives, on the third Sunday of every month, they admitted that they had no place to dispose the garbage collected. *Signboard* Octogenarian campaigner ‘Uncle' Seby D'Cruz said the famed Saligao fountain — that sits close to the garbage dump — should carry a signboard which cautioned that the water was unfit for human consumption. People expressed disappointment that none of the local authorities had not come up with a solution to the problem. Other issues Issues such as village library, mini-buses connecting Saligao to Porvorim, the need to tackle growing accidents and electricity woes in the village were raised. A new “development committee” had been set up, after it was noticed that the earlier committee had lapsed into inactivity, and a whole set of pending issues were not taken up. The people of the village insisted that the “development committee” should involve village people, and not just panchayat members. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2237507.ece#.TiO70Y7s3aA.email FN +91-832-2409490 or +91-9822122436 (after 2pm) #784 Nr Lourdes Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India http://fn.goa-india.org http://goa1556.goa-india.org -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to saligao-net@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe email saligao-net-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
