Notices to Mallya's breweries in Goa for polluting rivulet

The Goa State Pollution Control Board has issued show cause notices to liquor baron Vijay Mallya's M/s United Breweries and M/s United Spirits for allegedly releasing untreated effluent or sewage into the rivulet next to its factory here, the State Assembly was told today.

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State Environment Minister Alina Saldanha informed the House about this while responding to the Calling Attention Motion tabled by Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) legislator Lavoo Mamledar.

Saldanha said the Board has also decided to inspect both the units at Bethora Industrial Estate here every month and also collect samples of water at upstream, midstream and downstream of the rivulet. Mamladar had moved the Motion based on a newspaper report which had alleged that fresh water fish and other creatures were adversely affected due to waste water by these plants, manufacturing beer and whisky products.

The minister said the samples from the rivulet near these plants was analysed in board's laboratory where in it was concluded up that the Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were higher. "This implies that there could be a discharge from the premises of M/s United Breweries and M/s United Spirits into the nullah (rivulet)," Saldanha added.