PANAJI
The government of Goa will write to the Union home ministry, DG Shipping and Environment Ministry urging strict action against those creating pollution in the high sea resulting in tarballs on the Goan beaches, informed Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant. Stating that it is a menace affecting the entire west coast, the CM said that he will personally write a letter to the home minister and DG Shipping regarding the issue.
“Instructions have been given to clean the beaches of tar balls from time to time,” informed Sawant. However, if one recalls, such requests have been made two years ago too, yet nothing has moved so far and no action has been taken to tackle the issue. Actually, there are scientific methods to reduce the effects of tarballs, but they are expensive and not easily available.
The surfacing of tarballs has created a panic in the tourism industry as well as the public as the tourist season in Goa is about to commence, and while the State is already battling with the pandemic-related impacts, the otherwise silvery coastline, a major tourist attraction, is now wearing a darkish look with loads of tarballs being washed out to the beach sands.
All eyes are fixed on the upcoming tourist season, and the stakeholders in the tourism industry - taxi operators, casinos, hotels, bars, restaurants, tour and travel agents, guides and kiosks are hoping to cash on it. But the unexpected washout of the tarballs on the Goan beaches will prove to be an eyesore to the tourists, and hence has created panic in the industry.
“Basically, Goa has been witnessing tar balls sporadically at few places for the past 10 years. In fact, the incidents go as far as 40 years, though rare in number, occurring on the onset of monsoon. We must understand the science behind it, states Dr Baban Ingole, visiting scientist, National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research, Vasco.
A former chief scientist and head, Biology division at NIO, Dona Paula, Ingole clearly mentions that nothing much can be done presently about it, other than cleaning the beaches physically. “The beaches can be cleaned with the help of physical manpower or mechanically, with recommended guidelines by the scientists,” says Ingole.
