MARGAO
Salcete coastline witnessed fresh deposits of the oily substance, popularly known as tarballs, hampering the movement of visitors.
If traces of the oily substance were spotted along the stretches of the Salcete coast in the last three days, a large quantity of the substance was washed ashore on the Benaulim stretch on Tuesday.
Comparatively, traditional fishermen contended that Benaulim beach bore the brunt of the fresh deposits of the oily substance as evident by the fact that the silvery stretch of the beach was turned dark.
While sources said the strong undercurrents and the rough sea conditions must be responsible for washing the oily substance ashore, traditional fisherman Pele Fernandes pointed out that it is evident that some ships might have discharged oil in the sea only recently.
“The nature of the oily substance reveals that unscrupulous ships and boats must have played foul by discharging the oil in the sea. The quantity was much more on Tuesday than in the last couple of days”, Pele said.
The traditional fisherman has appealed to the Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and other authorities concerned to work out a permanent solution to the tarballs menace, which comes to haunt the coastline ahead of the monsoons every year.
