VASCO
A visibly upset Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar on Thursday warned the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) that he would be forced to stop all heavy vehicle transportation leaving from Gate 9, which is connected to the city, if the MPA did not implement its own orders.
Speaking to reporters, Amonkar said MPA had been totally misusing its power and had adopted a very casual approach towards the people of Mormugao constituency.
Amonkar said the MPA had issued two circulars, both of which were not implemented and hence, caused the people to face a lot of issues like pollution and traffic jams.
“When activists had stopped transportation from the port for around eight days, we had a long discussion with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, South Goa collector and other authorities and arrived to a solution which was agreed by everyone.”
“The MPA later issued an order on December 20, 2022 that henceforth all cargo vehicular traffic will move from Gate 1 except on days when cruise ships are berthed, where the traffic would be allowed to move from Gate 9,” said Amonkar.
“The MPA has failed to implement the order and we see that around 300-400 trucks carrying cargo like coal, bauxite, pellets, etc. continue to move daily from Gate 9,” said Amonkar.
“Within another 15 days, the MPA on January 3 issued another order that all vehicles must be covered with tarpaulin, empty vehicles must be cleaned before entering the port, the heap level of the cargo must be loaded below the top level of the truck carrier and all trucks must use the wheel washing station before leaving the port. This order is also not being followed and MPA has taken people for granted,” said Amonkar.
The Mormugao MLA said he had spoken to the MPA and sought an emergency meeting to resolve the issues and implement both the orders immediately.
