MARGAO
A Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) team descended on the Benaulim beach on Wednesday to collect samples of water after the traditional fishermen claimed coal was washed ashore on the beach on Monday.
The team, however, could not find any traces of coal on the beach and the officials left after collecting samples of water and sand from the beach.
The two-member GSPCB team had an interaction with the traditional fisherman, Pele Fernandes, and tried to obtain details on the coal deposit on the beach. He told the team that the presence of the dark substance on the beach was brought to his notice by a domestic tourist seeking to know the nature of the waste washed ashore.
“Initially, I believed that the substance could be tar balls, but upon inspection, I found that the waste resembled coal which had washed ashore during the high tide,” he said.
He added: “The coal was washed ashore around sunset. It was scattered on the beach at a distance of 15 meters. It must have washed back in the sea during the low tide,”
While the GSPCB team has left Benaulim beach after collecting water and sand samples, Pele later made a fervent plea to the government and the 40 MLAs to sit down and take a joint decision to stop coal and coal transportation in the state.
He urged the government to respect the sentiments of the people of Goa, who had descended on Chandor in thousands in support of the demand to scrap coal transportation, track-doubling and other projects in the state.
“What I had come across on the Benaulim beach were just little traces of coal. Our tourism and water sports and the beauty of Goa will be destroyed if coal handling and transportation is allowed in the state,” he said.
The fisherman made a plea to all the 40 MLAs to take a unanimous decision and scrap coal and other projects, saying the elected representatives should work in the interest of the people and not for the benefit of the corporates.
