VASCO: Concerned citizens and activists from in and around Mormugao taluka strongly opposed the MPT's expansion plans at a public hearing on Friday, with some alleging that information in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been misleading and false.
Hundreds of people attended the public hearing at the Sports Authority of Goa Ground at Chicalim to decide on MPT's expansion plans. Though there were several speakers lined up to speak at the public hearing, the rains and subsequent power outage on Friday evening forced the hearing to be adjourned for Saturday morning.
The public hearing was held amid a strong police force and presided over by South Goa Collector Tariq Thomas along with Additional Collector Johnson Fernandes and Sanjeev Joglekar of Goa State Pollution Control board in the presence of a panel consisting of MPT officials.
The hearing began at about 10.40 am with a presentation by the project proponents. Seven speakers then put forth their concerns at the hearing.
Among them was a young activist Sherwyn Correia, who pointed out errors in the draft EIA report prepared for the proposed project.
He alleged that the agency who had prepared the EIA had copy-pasted points from a previous EIA report made by them for a different project.
Corriea sought to know what was in store for Goan youth in terms of employment and socio-economic benefits of the project.
Another speaker, Abhijit Prabhudessai, said plans like highway expansion, double tracking and river waterways was an effort to give momentum to handle 51 million tonnes of coal per annum that the Sagarmala project is expecting to bring into Goa by 2030.
"Plans to bring in million of tonnes of coal will finish Goans. We want MPT to promote projects which will help fishermen and Goa in general. Give more space to fishermen instead of removing and displacing them.”
“MPT should not handle hazardous cargo, but MPT should handle cruise tourism and green sustainable non-polluting cargo which is good for Vasco and could generate employment as well,” said Prabhudessai.
Adv Savio Corriea, Dinesh Dias, Diana Tavares, David Rodrigues and Avinash Tavares also put forth their concerns at the hearing and placed their objection over the proposed MPT expansion plans.
NCP State President Jose Philip D'Souza and Mormugao Congress leader Sankalp Amokar also attended the public hearing.
