Panaji, Jul 18(TOI): Centre for environment & natural resource management highlighted the various pressures the St Inez creek is facing today and suggested solutions to solve the problem.

"The Goa coastal zone management authority (GCZMA) should categorize the creek as a coastal water body. Once it gets this status, lots of regulations will apply to it," Sangeeta Sonak, director of centre of excellence in natural resource management (CENRM), said. She also suggested that CCP make it compulsory for NOCs to be produced for constructions along the creek and said bioremediation techniques could be used to clean up the creek. She recommended increasing the width of the creek, constructing retaining walls, building flood gates and periodical desilting.

Sonak said, "At all 11 monitoring stations along the creek, E. coli has been found and it is an indication of recent fecal contamination. Well water samples in the area also showed presence of E.coli. Many building projects along the creek use bore well water even in their kitchens."

Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienker said land along the St Inez creek belongs to private parties and shot down suggestions by citizens to acquire the land along the creek. He said, "We have to forget about land acquisition. It is not the way forward. Land acquisition is a very complicated issue. Those living in the hutments along the creek aren't responsible for polluting it." He added, "It is the posh colonies with flats costing Rs1 crore plus which are responsible. I don't want to take names. They're the ones discharging sewage into the nullah. The hutments have been there for the past 90 years."

I P Rodrigues, a senior citizen who lives a stone's throw away from the creek, said she couldn't take the stench and the problem of mosquitoes any more. He said, "I want to get out of this place but I haven't been able to find another place. The PWD pumps sewage into the creek every single day. As a result, mosquitoes are breeding and sucking the little blood that's left in me in my old age."

Panaji sewerage network assistant engineer C Radhakrishnan said there was a lot of misinformation about the Tonca STP being spread. He clarified that the STP was one of the best sewage treatment plants whose capacity was from 5.7MLD to 12.5MLD. After the treatment, the water is very clean and the plant is so successful that it gets visitors from other states and countries.

The creek could be saved with the help of corporates like Zuari Agro Chemicals, Syngenta and Siemens (who have come forward), Jose Manuel Noronha, GSPCB chairman, suggested. Although there were high levels of fecal coliform found on all the 28 monitoring stations along the creek, the good news he said is that there is no heavy metal contamination. He added, "Almost 1/5th of China's agricultural land contains heavy metal contamination. In Goa fortunately this isn't an issue."