The Mormugao PortTrust as the landowner of the Vasco port and the custodian of all that passesout and comes in has to be singled out for criminally choking the residents ofVasco with coal dust. While the role of two other agencies the Pollution ControlBoard and the Port Users Association “ the importers is equally dubious, theMPT has liberally allowed coal berths to the Jindals and Adanis for commerceand commerce alone.
With no EnvironmentImpact Assessment, public hearing and a pollution clearance, it has allowedfour open coal berths to function right in the heart of Vasco. Of these twoberths, 10 and 11, are manual berths. Berth number 7 is where the mechanisedberth of the Adanis, currently under construction, will be commissioned 2014,adding 7 million tonnes of coal handling to the already existing 6 million tonnesfrom berths 5A, 6A, 10 and 11. All this with a non-existent port infrastructurecoupled with a compromised rail infrastructure. The railways has stretched itscoal-carrying capacity, from Goa, to its maximum of 7 million tonnes. So if therailways can’t carry 13 million tonnes, will the coal move by road? Will itthen move with no protection?
Thus far, the MPThas not even moved towards non-negotiable basics such as these. Coveredstorages like domes (horizontal or circular sheds) so not a speck of dust goesout and there is adequate water supply to avoid generation of dust plumes. The water requirement,according to independent scientific assessments is at least 30 liters per tonne.If 200,000 T of iron ore + coal is handled in a day 6000 cubic metres of wateris required as opposed to the 250 cubic metres it now has. But the MPT hascleverly sidestepped the issue of the amount of water it needs, while sayingthat it will control dust by water sprays
If the MPT does not have the infrastructure it should make itmandatory for coal importers to put these systems in place or not allow importof coal at all. Coal import should halt till the mechanised coal handlingfacilities are ready in all aspects complete with adequate water and otherinfrastructure.
It is the order of the day perhaps that MPT is cosier withthe Jindals and the Adanis, than the Vasco Citizens group, since the MPTdoesn’t contest elections and doesn’t really need to react to people’s angst.Ditto for the port users who are importers of coal for their units, mainly inKarnataka. Both have never engaged with locals on the issue of coal pollution.Nor have they engaged with each other to bring down and then obliterate coalpollution during handling.
People’s anger is easy to seek. Homes, offices and schoolsare covered with thick coal dust daily. A lot of this anger is also directed atthe Goa State Pollution Control Board, which has quite conveniently turned away.It is the board’s responsibility to conduct public hearings. It has allowedfour coal berths to operate without a public hearing, it should be madecriminally liable for this ten year neglect
The Member Secretary of the pollution control board LevinsonMartins response to this alone should invite a strong public backlash. Whenquestioned, he told The Goan “Public hearings are held only when there is anenvironment impact assessment notification issued”. After ten years of polluting Vasco, is thisthe response one expects from an authority whose role is to monitor? Monitoringstations are not in place, air quality is not tracked, the port is allowed tooffer more berths without any assessment.
The Goan promises to be a part of a citizens’ movement thatneeds to sustain in Vasco. At times this resistance drops due to the sheerweight of waiting but it needs to pick up at it did last Sunday, when a fullycharged citizens’ roar shocked members of the Mormugao Municipal Council intosilence. For the residents of Vasco, there is no going back or giving in. WithAdanis berth getting ready in 2014, an additional 7 million tons of coal willbe handled. This cannot be allowed unless mechanisms are in place.
Each one of these agencies are polluters and if the pollutermust pay, principle is the norm then this money needs to be seen, forinfrastructure, monitoring and above all to give back the health of the peoplethey have robbed. Otherwise the people of Vasco will have no other recourse butto physically stop coal loading and movement. And with the MPT and governmentagencies not doing its basic job, this option looks more of a reality than apossibility.
