Dears,
In the late 1990s Sandeep Azrencar, then resident of Mapusa, began the campaign to save Salmona Spring from deforestation and being converted into a settlement area. The Toursim Dept stepped in under the directions of the Saligao MLA & Tourism minister, Dr. Wilfred de Souza. Saligao residents Nicholas Sequeira, Mario Mascarenhas and others joined in enthusiatically. The hotel lobby found contractors to clear their garbage and cared a damn if it was dumped behind the DST&e office at Pilerne plateau. Garbage dumps attracts its own set of denizens. The decay of the Salmona Spring, a popular camping site for Scouts & Guides in the 1970s and 1980s, is almost unrecognizable ...although it can boast of great connections with architects, business barons, thinkers, internet gurus ...and even has a seminary next door. Mog asundi Miguel Are Saligaokars losing Salmona? HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, JAN 11 Saligaokars seem to be losing one of their last natural heritage hotspots in the village. The latest inspection report of the Salmona spring has shown presence of faecal coliform indicating the area was being used as an open toilet. The inspection was carried out by two officials of the Goa State Pollution Control Board in the presence of Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira, Director of Science and Technology Michael D'Souza and Water Resources Department officials on November 27, 2009. The inspection report sought under the Right to Information Act states samples of the spring water were collected at two locations and the analysis reports revealed pH value at the two points wasn't within permissible limits for drinking water. Salmona spring water flows downstream from a hill and the samples were collected at the foot of the hill and from the HDPE pipeline used to channelise the water to a tank area where people wash their clothes. Chairman GSPCB Simon de Souza said no directions have been issued to any authority regarding maintenance of the spring. "One thing is clear the presence of faecal coliform comes from human waste. Certainly people are defecating at the foot of the hill and this has to stopped," he mentioned. De Souza said if the spring has to be saved then the sources leading to its pollution have to be completely rooted out. "We can give directions to the local panchayat to clean the spring," he added. Some of the residents, who are concerned about the spring, maintained in spite of warnings people come and wash their animals, take bath, wash their clothes, etc., rendering the water dirty. We expect some kind of a control to curb these activities at the spot but nothing was coming forth from any of the authorities, they rued. Saligao VP sarpanch Bholanath Sakhalkar expressed helplessness over the state of the spring, "Garbage from the coastal belt is being dumped atop the hill from where the water of Salmona flows downstream. The dumping has to be stopped in the first place." The degeneration of the spring started a few years ago and since then it has been lying in a state of rot with neither the Government showing any political will to preserve the hotspot for posterity nor the local panchayat gearing up to face the challenge to clean the mess. GSPCB has sent a detailed proposal to the Centre for getting the requisite funds for conducting comprehensive study of all the springs in the State. Salmona spring also forms part of this study. -- -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Miguel Braganza, S-1 Gracinda Apts, Rajvaddo, Mapusa 403507 Goa Ph +91-9822982676;91-832-2255913 www.ofai.org www.pgsorganic.in Horticulture.Facilitation.Networking -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -- -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Miguel Braganza, S-1 Gracinda Apts, Rajvaddo, Mapusa 403507 Goa Ph +91-9822982676;91-832-2255913 www.ofai.org www.pgsorganic.in Horticulture.Facilitation.Networking -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
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