PANAJI
Goa's greens who in mid-January suffered a setback with the Centre giving its nod to virtually double coal handling at the Mormugao Port Authority's captive private berths operated by the JSW group, are bracing up to challenge the decision before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) but may have to bank on the tribunal's leniency to condone the delay beyond 'limitation'.
The Environment Clearance (EC) in question was granted to the Jindal group to virtually double its coal handling capacity from the current 7.5 million tonnes to 14 million tonnes in mid-January.
The deadline to beat the limitation clause for a challenge before the NGT thus technically ended on Friday (February 10) but the tribunal usually 'condones the delay' if an appeal is filed within a further period of another 30 days.
According to Abhijeet Prabhudesai of Rainbow Warriors, the technicalities involved in filing the appeal against the EC has delayed the process.
"It should take at least another couple of weeks. We will file the appeal before the NGT along with an application for 'Condonation of delay' simultaneously," Prabhudesai said.
Goa's greens and thousands of Goans had over the past decade taken to the streets several times to agitate against what they call is "hazardous air pollution" caused in the thickly populated area around the Mormugao port as also along the route it is transported by road to the steel plants in North Karnataka.
For residents in Vasco city and around, cleaning a layer of soot from their dining tables and other home furniture is a daily affair for years.
The Jindal group had applied for the EC to this project for enhancement of coal handled by it by back in 2016 and a public hearing to discuss the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was held in 2017 where record crowds attended and the MPA (then MPT) authorities were forced to hold it at the open grounds of the Tilak Maidan.
Subsequently, the State has also seen massive public agitations, including at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the three linear projects were strongly opposed alleging that they were meant solely to cater to the transportation needs of coal importers and transform Goa into a coal corridor via the rail and road modes.
Besides the Jindal group, two other Corporate groups -- Adani and Vedanta -- also import and handle coal at Mormugao. Activists cite the Sagarmala report to claim that the government intends to treble the quantities of coal handled at Mormugao port and transport it to the consuming industries in North Karnataka to 51 million tonnes within a decade.
