Deputy collector and sub-divisional magistrate, Salcete, Uday Prabhudessai, on Thursday pulled up the fisheries department for its failure to provide adequate sanitary facilities for the 3,000-plus migrant labourers at the fishing jetty at Cutbona. At a meeting with the Cutbona Trawler Owners Association, Velim panchayat, fisheries department and consumer network forum, GOACAN, Prabhudessai expressed his disapproval over the “inaction” of the fisheries department in pursuing its proposal for a sewage treatment plant (STP) at Cutbona. While the fisheries department has plans for a 50-seat toilet block at Cutbona, the health department has insisted on the construction of an STP before giving its approval for the project. Fisheries deputy director Chandrakant Velip was told to expedite the procedural requirements for the STP. He was also asked to ensure that the fisheries department puts in place alternative measures, including provision of mobile toilets, until the STP becomes functional. Velim sarpanch Savio D’Silva, who is also the president of the Cutbona Trawler Owners Association, was asked to take steps to make Cutbona an open defecation-free ward. Prabhudessai issued instructions to the fisheries department to act tough against trawler owners whose labourers do not comply with statutory requirements. He suggested that the licences of trawlers be revoked if owners fail to ensure that labourers employed by them possess identity and health cards.