Key Colva units still not connected to STP
Colva:
When chief minister
Pramod Sawant
inaugurated the Colva sewerage treatment plant (STP) in Jan, he had set a clear deadline of March 31 for all commercial establishments and households to be connected to the STP, failing which their water supply would be cut off.
But five months have passed, and the deadline has quietly slipped. Nearly 30 commercial establishments under the tourism department along the Colva creek are yet to connect to the STP. Most notably, the Colva Residency, a flagship Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) property with over 50 rooms and a restaurant, is still off the grid.
'Even govt properties haven't complied. If this is the pace at which things move, how can we expect the public to take the initiative?' said one official overseeing the plant operations.
The Colva STP, with a capacity of 7.5 million litres per day (MLD), was commissioned after a decade-long wait, at an investment of Rs 23 crore. Rs 11 crore is being spent on laying an 11km sewerage pipeline network.
Technical assistant Sheetal Jagdari, who oversees commercial connections to the plant from the PWD (sewerage), said letters were sent to the tourism department's commercial units along the creek. In response, proprietors presented a letter from Rajesh Kale, deputy director of tourism (revenue), dated Sep 2024.
The letter cited plans under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme to demolish and redevelop tourist shopping complexes, with work expected to begin by Dec 2024.
Consequently, all current leases would be terminated, and shop owners were asked to vacate by Nov.
'Using this as justification, they're reluctant to apply for connections,' Jagdari said. Ironically, the shops continue to operate as usual, despite the impending redevelopment, buying time.
Adding to the confusion is the case of Colva Residency. While GTDC's executive engineer E Balan asserts the property is connected to the STP, the PWD officials deny having any such records.
Jagdari further revealed that a year ago, GTDC had only sent a handwritten request for connection. 'We asked them to follow official procedures. Since then, we've heard nothing.'
The price may ultimately be paid by Colva's fragile environment and its overstretched infrastructure, said a local panch.
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