P G Holiday Inn Pvt Ltd (Silver Sands Beach Resort), Colva, is facing closure for causing environmental degradation and water pollution with the seven-day deadline served on the hotel expiring last week and the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) directing the district Collector to do the needful. Monday saw a flurry of activity on the matter as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in a note to the Chief Secretary has called for the closure of the hotel if its operation is causing pollution and nuisance in the vicinity. Given the situation, a copy of the GSPCB closure order was faxed to the District Collectorate for necessary action, since District Collector N D Agrawal was on leave when the closure order was passed by the Board. “My office will go as per the closure order issued by the GSPCB. I have just received a copy of the order and further action will follow immediately”, Agrawal said. GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said the order directing closure of P G Holiday Inn Pvt Ltd had mandated the District Collector to ensure compliance within the set deadline. Replying to a question, Noronha admitted that the Board has received a letter from the hotel seeking extension of time by 10 days to comply with the directions. “The letter does not disclose anything constructive”, he said. The GSPCB had on December 6 rejected the application of the hotel for renewal of the consent to operate under Water and Air Acts. The GSPCB had maintained the resort had failed to comply with the Board’s directions regarding maintenance and operation of the sewage treatment plant efficiently. The hotel had also failed to stop the discharge of waste water outside the premises. The action comes following a complaint lodged by Colva Sarpanch Snowkon Gonsalves and Colva Civic and Consumer Forum secretary Judith Almeida alleging discharge of waste water in the storm water drain.