However, a visit to the site revealed that only half of the partially broken tank has been dismantled, and a vast quantity of molasses has been shifted to nearby ground tanks and pits specially dug up in the Shristhal Industrial Estate. Moreover, vast amounts of molasses is still left stored in the partially dismantled tank.
Incidentally, all the molasses stored in different ground tanks, pits and in the partially-dismantled tank still containing molasses have been covered with tarpaulin sheets.
One side of the ground tank and pits has been secured with barbed fencing and even a warning signboard has been installed by the Canacona Dy Collector.
With the monsoon around the corner, residents and activists fear that heavy rains could possibly cause the molasses to overflow and seep into nearby water bodies, causing large scale ecological damage.
“The then Canacona Dy Collector had publicly assured to shift the entire molasses stock from the damaged tank to be taken up for dismantling within 48 hours,” said social worker Shubham Komarpant, who was present at the site along with Pavan Tubki.
“However, this has not been done and the molasses stored in different ground tanks and dug-out pits have now raised serious concerns. We demanded immediate action from authorities to avoid any environmental disaster,” Komarpant said.
