MAPUSA
Stating that various government departments have been directed to clear the beaches of tarballs, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said the government has also asked the Centre to take action against those creating pollution in the deep sea.
“We held a meeting with the Tourism Minister Manohar alias Babu Ajgaonkar, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral and Goa State Pollution Control Board on the issue of tarballs. The departments have been directed to clear all the beaches at the earliest,” Sawant said.
He said different ministries of the union government -- shipping, environment and home ministry -- were also involved in the tarballs issue.
“We will write to the Home Minister, DG shipping and MoEF to take action against those creating pollution in the deep-sea. This thing happens not only in Goa but the entire Western coast,” the CM said.
“We had written to the environment ministry earlier. We will write again,” he added.
The slimy tarballs appeared on several beaches of Goa last week, including the popular Anjuna beach in the North and Majorda in South Goa.
The emergence of tarballs is a seasonal phenomenon and occurs during the monsoon season.
For a tourism-oriented State of Goa, the emergence of tarballs is a bad omen as the industry has already been reeling under the Covid induced restrictions.
