High court disposes of petition on waste disposal at Colva beach

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has disposed of a 14-year-old PIL by the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum regarding various hotels, restaurants, and beach shacks on Colva beach throwing their waste into the sea and connecting their drains to the Colva creek.

The division bench, comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita Mehta, said that the court is satisfied that the Goa Pollution Control Board has taken all necessary steps to curb the menace of waste disposal into the sea, particularly the Colva creek.

Forum secretary Judith Almeida said the Colva creek is clogged with garbage and waste material, including plastic raw waste and wastewater discharged by restaurants and hotels, which is destroying the beach’s beauty and causing water pollution.

The board’s member secretary Shamila Monteiro said that efforts have been made to operationalise public toilets and ensure that sewage from toilets is treated at a dedicated STP. A show cause notice has also been issued to the WRD to ensure that no raw sewage is discharged into the creek. The STP is operational for the treatment of sewage from toilet blocks, and treated water is being put to use, the high court was told.