PANAJI
In a bid to dispel fears that coal handling will increase manifold at MPT, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said he has got an assurance from Union Ports Minister Mansukh Mandvia that a study will be done to diversify services at the major port.
Sawant who was speaking to journalists after the National Press Day function said he had requested Mandvia to do a study to begin other services at MPT and he has agreed.
"The Ports Minister is expected to come to Goa soon," Sawant said.
Protests have been swelling in Goa against projects being implemented which seemingly are contributing to a coal transportation corridor between MPT and north Karnataka where power and steel plants are dependent on the uninterrupted supplies of the fossil fuel.
The three projects - - doubling of the tracks of South Western Railways, four-laning of a national highway and laying of high tension power lines - - have triggered a high pitch agitation as they are feared to cumulatively contribute to a hub for coal transportation between MPT and North Karnataka.
With the protests blowing up, Sawant has in recent weeks has engaged in a damage control exercise to convince the local population that his government will not permit a coal hub but has achieved little success if any.
He dashed off to Delhi at the height of the agitation where he met Mandviya and on his return said on Sunday that the Ports Minister had assured to set up a special committee to study MPT's functioning aimed at reducing coal handling gradually.
