October 16th 2023.
MARGAO: The Colva creek, located at the entrance of the world-famous Colva beach, appeared to be clean and free from plastic and dry waste when viewed from a distance. It was not clear whether the creek had been cleaned up ahead of the beach volleyball lineup or whether the water body was spruced up as part of the routine maintenance contract.
However, when looking closer, the waters flowing from the creek into the sea raised many an eyebrow amongst onlookers crossing the creek to make it to the beach. The brownish-coloured water was particularly noticeable at the point where the creek waters joined the sea water on the beach.
An STP plant had been installed at the creek to treat the sewage and effluent discharge by the commercial establishments into the water body, but the fact that the discharged water was brownish in colour led to many questions being asked. Unsuspecting children, mostly domestic visitors, were seen playing at the place where the creek water mixed with the sea. Visitors were also wading through ankle-deep water to make it to the other side of the beach, without realising that the water they were crossing may be mixed with effluents or waste.
The tourist village still doesn't have a proper sewage discharge mechanism to treat the sewage generated by the scores of hotels, restaurants, and business establishments, besides housing societies. This was highlighted in a public interest litigation filed by the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum through its secretary Judith Almeida over a decade ago and brought to the attention of the High Court. Despite this, a foolproof mechanism to treat the sewage generated in the tourist village is still not in place.
The government set in motion the process to set up a sewage treatment plant at Colva in the year 2017, but it is yet to be commissioned. Unfortunately, the brownish-coloured water still remains a cause for concern.
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