VIKRAM NAYAK
VASCO
Having done the tough and dirty work of single-handedly moving about 2,400 tonnes of inflammable naphtha cargo from the unmanned ship MT Nu-Shi Nalini, storing the cargo in its tanks and then having safely moved it into a UAE-bound ship, Ganesh Benzoplast Limited (GBL) had expected recognition for a mission accomplished.
Instead, GBL continues to remain in the spotlight and has been targetted by politicians and petitioners alike over the existence, location and purpose of its tanks and its consent to operate.
Weeks after moving the naphtha from the unmanned ship MT Nu-Shi Nalini and storing it in its tanks, before moving the cargo into MT Golden Peak ship, which left for the UAE on Monday, a GBL official lamented that they are yet to receive the Consent To Operate (CTO) licence which expired on November 30, 2019, despite seeking renewal well in advance and also submitting the necessary documents to the Goa State Pollution control Board (GSPCB).
“The file has been pending with a government agency for around two months. GBL may be a victim of politics and the renewed consent yet to be issued by GSPCB could be delayed further,” remarked a GBL official, who did not wish to be named.
“We had applied for renewal of our CTO well in advance but we were informed that GSPCB had gone online and hence, there was further delay considering the server issues and uploading of various scanned documents online on the GSPCB sites. After documents were submitted online, we were requested for a payment of around Rs 60,000, which we paid in the first week of November,” said the official.
The official insisted that consent cannot be treated as invalid if the application of renewal is submitted before expiry date and has been accepted by the GSPCB.
“Renewal fees were accepted online, which is only accepted after we submit all documents as required by the portal for renewal of consent. GSPCB later formed a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which conducted a meeting with GBL officials. Permission for renewal of CTO was placed before the TAC formed by the GSPCB, where necessary compliance reports were presented by the GBL to the satisfaction of the TAC,” said the official.
“But despite all this, we are yet to receive consent. We fear we may be a victim of politics, though TAC has recommended the GSPCB issue it soon,” said the official.
