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Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Antonio J.B. Lobo, Advocate Rua Mgr. Rodolfo Dalgado, Feira Alta-Mapusa-Goa. By: Registered A.D. To, The Chairman, The Goa State Pollution Control Board, Dempo Towers, 1st. Floor, EDC Plaza, Panaji, Goa. Sir, I am sending this notice to you on behalf of my client Willaim Barreto, resident of H.No. 155, Vaddi, Siolim, Bardez and on his instructions I have to address you as under:- That my said client has been addressing you complaints from 8.9.2004 onwards regarding the unbearable noise levels generated by a saw mill, which is located on the other side of the road from the residence of my client. At least ten such complaints have been addressed either to yourself or to the Member Secretary of the Board, with no tangible results. My client informs me that you conducted a noise pollution test on 20.10.2004 and again on 9.3.2005 and you letter dated 4.5.2005 addressed to my client has been perused by me, wherein you state that the noise level generated by the said saw mill does not exceed the permissible level of sound which is pegged at 10 dBA. My client contests the entire procedure adopted by you to conduct the said test as, in the first place, you have conducted these tests from within the house of my client, which lies at a distance of about 25 mts. From the said Saw Mill when there are other residences which are much closer. In the second place, none of your personnel were inside the Saw Mill in order to verify whether the machines in the Saw Mill were being operated at their maximum potential and how many of them were in operation at the time. It is the grievance of my client that the methodology adopted by you to conduct the tests is not conducive to actually finding out the actual potential for noise generation which is one of the crucial aspects of any test of this nature, for it cannot be ruled out that the party under scrutiny is already forewarned of your impending visit and thus regulate the noise levels accordingly or in the alternative that your visits coincided with quieter periods of operation. My client also informs me that another unit has also started functioning in a carpentry shop which has also installed machinery some of which is similar in nature to the machinery employed in the Saw Mill and both units have contributed to increase levels of noise which may start from 7.30 a.m. and which may go on upto 10.30 p.m. depending on the type of job being carried-out. My client informs me that at no point of time during the two visits that your technicians made to his house has the noise level reached the level that these units generate ordinarily, clearly indicating that the party concerned, being aware of what was happening modulated the noise level in order to be within the permissible noise levels. In view of the above, it is clear that the testing methods adopted by you are never going to come up with results which will oblige you to take corrective or coercive measures against the perpetrator and that the whole exercise is meant only to keep your records in the proper order and not to genuinely analyse the problem in-depth. My client has indicated in his letters to you the ages and the number of family members resident in his house who are all affected by the noise hence I shall not repeat those details here. My client's peace of mind has been disturbed time and again due to this unrelenting and ongoing acute noises which penetrate all corners of his house for the last few years with no relief in sight given that your last NOC to the said Saw Mill is dated 13.6.2005. As if all the above were not sufficient to drive a normal person to desperation, there is another related disturbance which affects the area, namely that of trucks loaded with logs making deliveries at any time of day or night with all attendant noises that this involves including , but not restricted to, the throwing of heavy tools inside the box of the truck by the labourers prior to the departure of the truck. Also the sale of pre-cut wood and the vehicles plying either for bringing the logs or for the purpose of taking away the cut pieces contribute to the constant cacophony of sound which should not find a place within a residential area. Since it is apparent to any right thinking citizen that your department is not being sensitive enough, perhaps due to the fact that the person running the said Saw Mill is the Panch of the Village Panchayat and his wife the Sarpanch thereof, I see no alternative other than to give you notice that if the Pollution Control Board does not, within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of this notice, conduct sound level tests with all machinery installed being operated simultaneously and at their full potential, my client will be forced to approach such Courts as he may deem necessary to approach, to obtain the relief that he is clamouring-for all these years. Please note that my client may approach the High Court of Bombay for the purpose and, if he so desires, may file a case for compensation and/or damages against your Board, the person or persons operating the Saw Mill as well as the carpentry shop lying in the vicinity and such compensation, which is presently tentatively quantified at Rupees ten lakhs will be claimed jointly and/or severally against your Board and the other parties mentioned hereinabove. Such compensation, if sought, will be increased to the extent that the nature and circumstances existing at the point of time of filing the suit may demand. Kindly note further that the time limit of sixty days given to you is meant only to meet the requirements of law for filing the Suit for compensation and/or damages and other reliefs and the cause of action for the same will begin with the expiry of the said sixty days from the date of receipt of this notice by yourselves. My client may however file the Writ Petition earlier than the sixty days mentioned hereinabove. Sd/- C.C. to, The Chief Secretary, Government of Goa, Secretariat, Porvorim. C.C. to, M/s Siolim Saw Mill, Vaddi, Siolim. Inward date: 15/9/06 ** GOA ENVIRONMENT ACTION GROUP (REGISTRATION NO. 6/98 Office: 2nd. Floor, Karekar Building, Angod, Mapusa. Ph:2266111 (m) 9422060347 REMINDER NO: 1 dated May 15, 2006 (with copy to Mr. William Baretto r/o of Siolim) Our Ref: No. GEAG/NP/SIO/SM/01/06 January 30, 2006 To, The Member Secretary, Goa State Pollution Control Board, Dempo Towers, 1st. Floor, Patto-Panjim- Goa. Sir, We invite your kind attention to a long standing serious 'Noise Pollution' complaint by a resident of House No. 155, Vaddy Siolim, Mr. William Barreto, who lives with his family, paying guests and an octogenarian relative in the immediate neighbourhood of a long standing very small Saw Mill unit which has expanded its operations tremendously during the last few years, now operating in the name and style of M/s. Siolim Saw Mill, causing acute noise pollution in the immediate vicinity. Mr. William Barreto has made a representation to us regarding this matter of severe noise pollution and we have perused all the correspondence made by the said William Barreto to your office, to the concerned Panchayat and to other relevant authorities and we are at a loss to understand as to why this acute noise pollution problem is yet unsolved causing tremendous stress to its immediate neighbourhood residents. We are aware that your department has conducted the dBA check on 09/03/05 in the area before renewing the 'Air Consent' to this said Saw Mill (Consent Order No: AIR/789/2004 valid up to 31/12/2006). However, it is alleged by Mr. Barreto that the dBA check has been carried out haphazardly without putting on load simultaneously all the machines operating in the Saw Mill as well as the machinery used in the sister concern 'carpentry workshop' as required by law. Needless to say that while obtaining electrical connection for the unit, the load is calculated as according to the rating of the installed equipment. Kindly therefore make arrangements to reconduct the dBA test as the same is very much contested by the complainant at your earliest with all electrical equipment in operation, simultaneously, and on load, so that a fair reading of the noise level is recorded. We shall be highly obliged if you will intimate us the date and time of such re-conduct of the noise level tests so that we may have our own representative present during this exercise. Needless to say that we are not against the conduct of any legitimate business activities even in the thickly populated residential villages as long as these units abide by the well established pollution levels norms in order to safeguard the rights of the citizens to live in peace especially senior citizens such as Ms. Maria Analia Bevinda Souza e Barreto. We shall thank you for a speedy setting up of a convenient time and date for the above exercise in the interest of all concerned. Yours Sincerely, for Goa Environmental Action Group Sd/- (Floriano C. Lobo) Hon. General Secretary. Attached: Copy of the renewal of the 'Consent Order No: AIR/789/2004 dated 13/06/05. Copy of you letter No. 6/535/01-PCB/393 dated 04/05/05 Comments: In view of the above, it can be seen that the Goa State Pollution Control Board is qualified for desolution as demanded by the 'Save Goa Front' goasuraj _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org