VASCO
The National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) in a press release on Sunday hit out at the state administration and the MOEF for the failure to control tarball menace in the state of Goa.
NFF General Secretary Olencio Simoes said that the tarball phenomenon was an yearly affair and almost every month the tarball were washed to the shores in Goa. "On
one side the central and the state governments are proposing the sagarmala project in every coastal state and in another side it does not have the mechanism to impound the ships which release sludge into the ocean. This tarballs can attract various heavy metals, including nickel, copper, and cobalt, to their surfaces," he said
Due to different weathering processes, tarballs can accumulate high concentrations of heavy hydrocarbons, organic compounds that only contain carbon and hydrogen, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). PAH’s are common in coal and tar deposits, and this also causes cancer in humans besides complete destruction of marine life and loss to the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen, Simoes said in the press note
Xencor Polgi Executive Member of Goencho Ekvott stated that Mormugao Port Trust and Indian Coast Guard have failed to control the ships which releases the sludge into the ocean. "The consequences will be disastrous when MPT will bring 136 MMTPA in Goa as the frequency of ships will increase multifold and Goa which is known for its silver sandy beaches will lose its essence completely." He demanded that the state administration immediately remove all the tarballs and find a mechanism to control them.
