Today, 7 April, is World Health Day.
Video Volunteers' North Goa Community Correspondent Sulochana Pednekar brings you a
3 and a 1/2 minute, video peep into the nursing care, in only one ward
at Goa Medical College (GMC).
 |
| Sulochana Pednekar interviews the Matron of GMC |
A combination of this complaint - signed by 240 residents of Donvaddo and Sonarbhatt - and the Video Volunteers film
on the problem, led to a 3-way joint site inspection by the Health
Officer, Primary Health Centre, Candolim; the Dept. of Animal Husbandry
and the Sarpanch, VP Saligao. Copies of the film were given to the
Health Officer, Sarpanch, VP Saligao and local MLA.
Remember Sulochana Pednekar the grassroots Community Correspondent from Video
Volunteers who came in and did a short video documentary on the illegal
piggery and slaughter house in Donvaddo, Saligao?
 |
| Her video is now up here... |
by Community Correspondent Sulochana Pednekar
with Lara Chandni
(Saligao's sordid piggy story unfolds as a grassroots community correspondent investigates the problem with her video camera...)
In
Saligao village at Donvaddo, there is a drain alongside the road which
lies clogged with the blood and entrails of slaughtered pigs. For many
years now, the area’s local piggery has been a source of serious
emotional and material distress to its neighbours.
Aside from the insupportable stench of excreta, rotting offal and
the flamboyant disregard for any considerations of hygiene, the squeals
of dying pigs at odd hours during the day are traumatising the entire
community. This is especially disturbing in light of the
slaughterhouse’s proximity to a school. Situated only 100 metres away is
Lourdes Convent, and everyday its 1,600 young students have to
jeopardise their physical and mental wellbeing in order to attend class.
Sulochana was shocked by the very experience of filming: “Even when I
was moving around the area to record my video, the smell was
unbearable. The owners themselves live in extremely unhygienic
conditions. The drain is a breeding ground for mosquitoes; the organic
waste used to feed the pigs attracts hoards of flies and cockroaches.
Rodents also infest the area. To makes this worse, crows and eagles pick
up rotting pig entrails and spread them all over the village, putting
the whole community at risk.” Needless to say, this entire operation is
illegal.
The Goa Animal Preservation Act of 1995 lays down some very
stringent regulations for the meatpacking industry. In section 4 of the
Act it is stipulated that, "no person shall slaughter or cause to be
slaughtered any scheduled animal in any place in the state of Goa,
unless he has obtained in respect of such animal, a certificate in
writing from the competent authority that the animal is fit for
slaughter". With its qualified staff and equipment, the Goa Meat Complex
is the sole establishment which satisfies all requisites for the
scientific and hygienic slaughter of animals. It charges private meat
vendors a total of Rs. 400 for outsourcing their work.
Notwithstanding, there are at least 20–30 illicit abattoirs to be
found in the state. In January of this year, authorities intercepted a
truck transporting 42 pigs from Belgaum to Goa, and 8–10 animals are
killed daily at the slaughterhouse in Saligao. The number can rise to 25
on weekends. This routine massacre has exposed the entire neighbourhood
to various health hazards. While the worst affected are women and
children who stay home during the day or attend school at Lourdes
Convent, the situation is bad enough to trouble even a passersby.
Apart from the unsanitary and often imaginary disposal of animal
offal, the locality is plagued by other unsavoury by-products of the
business. Hotel garbage is brought in by the truckload to feed the pigs
and then left to fester and decompose before being burnt. This residual
waste often contains a lot of plastic, and the fumes emitted from its
incineration pollute the entire atmosphere. The inferno then plays
itself out to the grizzly soundtrack of pigs screaming from being
shifted or slaughtered, from 5:00am to 8:00am and then again at night.
There have been several initiatives taken up by the community to
request the owners to follow official guidelines in operating their
business. The residents even tried to enlist the help of the parish
priest in maintaining some semblance of hygiene in the area. All pleas
have, however, fallen on deaf ears. The family remains staunch in its
refusal to acknowledge its toxic effect on the environs. Through this
video we hope to attract the attention of the Health Department, so that
it can take appropriate action against the owners and put an end to
their illegal and unsanitary activities.
The demands of the residents are fairly straightforward:
- The Health Department should conduct regular inspections of the
piggery and enforce a strict adherence to government regulations. The
import and slaughter of pigs and the burning of waste must be in
accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2000.
- The Panchayat or Village Council should also inspect the
compound on a regular basis and ensure an observance of protocol through
its Garbage Sub-Committee.
- The local Panch member,
Sarpanch (Headman) and MLA of the region should ascertain that these
inspections and enforcements are carried out smoothly. Action needs to
be taken immediately and effectively at the level of the Health Ministry
and the Cabinet.
(ends)
42 Pigs Rescued In Daring Night Chase
