the goan I network
PANAJI
A month after the Pollution Board allowed coal-handling operations at the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to resume, citizens under the organisation Goa Against Coal (GAC) once more raised objections that coal handlers Adani and Jindal Steel Works (JSW) are violating norms for the safe handling of coal.
GAC once more met Ganesh Shetgaonkar, Chairman of the GSPCB, on Monday, and presented him with documentary evidence that Adani and Jindal are violating guidelines, and continuing operations despite high wind speeds in the port town.
“The coal handlers are not supposed to carry out operations when wind speeds are above 10 kilometers an hour. But we have documentary evidence proving that it has gone on even when the wind speed was 30 kilometers an hour,” Claude Alvares said, addressing a press conference in the city after meeting Shetgaonkar.
“There is data on wind speeds available for every port city in the world, including for Mormugao. If the residents of Mormugao can access this data, surely the GSPCB can do so too,” said Alvares, a petitioner in the High Court about the coal-handling. “The GSPCB can stop operations every time the coal-handlers are violating guidelines, but in the past month, they have not even stopped operations once,” he said.
Alvares also pointed out that the Rs 14 lakh study by BITS Pilani on the coal handling had been faulty, with researchers reading the wind wrong. Even the Rs 88 lakh study by IIT Bombay which is not completed, says everything is fine, he alleged, adding that these studies were not a reflection of reality.
Members of GAC Sherwyn Correia, Jayesh Shetgaonkar, Sanjay Redkar and others also expressed anger that the GSPCB had not considered their objections or replied to them. Correia said that residents of the port town were open to alternatives to coal-handling at the port like cargo and cruise liners.
Chairman of GSPCB Shetgaonkar meanwhile told “The Goan”, “We have been monitoring coal handling at the MPT. Data is currently being compiled. Till we study the data, we cannot comment if any violations have been taking place.” When asked
whether the GSPCB would stop Adani and Jindal from handling coal as demanded by GAC, Shetgaonkar said, “I cannot take a decision on my own. It is a decision that the 15 member board will take jointly.”
Members of the GAC say that at the violation rate of Adani and Jindal, coal dust enters the lungs of the residents who live just a few meters from where the coal handling is taking place. They also say that they have been experiencing the ill-effects of coal pollution for the past 15 years. With the license of Jindal ending on March 21, GAC has urged the GSPCB not to renew it. The license of Adani however, ends only in 2022, said Alvares.
