MARGAO
Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has dashed off a letter to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to take up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the serious issue of tar balls affecting the marine life and its future repercussion on Goa’s tourism industry.
Drawing the attention of the Chief Minister to the coating of beaches by the messy tar balls in both the districts of Goa, he said Goans in large number including the fisher folks, beach lovers, tourism stakeholders, etc have requested him to appeal to the government to rid the beaches of the oily deposits.
“It is given to understand that every year between the months of May and October tar balls emerge from the churning of currents on the high seas and consequently pollute the water and the beach setting. Almost all the beaches of Goa including the popular ones Anjuna, Morjim , Mandrem, Colva, Benaulim, Velsao depict a black colour appearance as it is housed with sticky black oily substance”, he said.
Reginaldo added: “These tar balls are not a boon but a bane to Goa and Goemkars because besides ruining the marine life they are also carcinogenic in nature as it consists of metals, hydrocarbons etc. These residues are a nuisance as it causes allergies and also results into irritation of both skin and eyes. Walking on the affected beaches become a challenge to both the locals and to the tourist because tar balls get stuck beneath their bare feet”.
He said need of the hour for Goa is to deal with tar ball challenge effectively and in time bound manner would and any further delay in deal with the situation will result in a debilitating impact on the local fishing and tourism industry. Fish, the staple food of most Goans, is at high risk of contamination.
