PANAJI:
Waste water
from a construction site being discharged in the fields at at
Agrant
,
Taleigao
has inundated the farmlands with polluted water and severely disrupted agricultural activities in the area.
The last of the cultivable tracts in fast-developing Taleigao are being used by traditional farming families to grow crops of like brinjals, sweet potatoes, chillies, etc using organic methods. The farmers wait till late November-early December for the water accumulated during monsoon to drain out before they begin cultivation.
“For over three weeks, huge quantities of waste water has been released from the construction site. It has damaged our fields and rendered them uncultivable,” a farmer alleged.
The aggrieved farmers have complained to engineers, supervisors and others at the construction site regarding the pollution, but were mistreated and dismissed. Allegedly, those present at the construction site were rude and discourteous towards the farmers, and even dismissed their complaints as false.
“These farmers live a hand-to-mouth existence. They sole source of income is their crops,” Save Taleigao Front convenor
Xavier Almeida
said.
The farmers have complained to the
Taleigao panchayat
about the continuous pumping of waste water through storm drains. “The panchayat has promised to look into the matter or we will not be able to raise our crops,” one of the farmers said. They have demanded that the construction licence granted to the project promoter be revoked and their fields restored immediately to a cultivable state. “We should be compensated for our losses,” the farmers also said.
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