PANAJI
Tar balls have been accumulating on beaches in the State with alarming frequency and they are being collected in huge quantities by the tourism department. But there seems to be no clarity on what to do with these tar balls and how to dispose them off in a scientific manner.
According to the tourism department, tar balls have filled around 120 bags of 40 kgs each but they are lying with the tourism department, in the absence of a proper and effective disposal system.
When contacted, Goa State Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Dr Shamila Monteiro initially claimed the Board has been taking steps to dispose off the tar balls.
But when asked about this disposal of tar balls, Dr Monteiro was unable to provide details and said the issue of tar balls is a national issue and there is no specific solution by the central pollution control board.
“A petition filed by a person from Gujarat is pending before NGT regarding the same issue,” said Dr Monteiro.
A NIO study has detected the source of tar balls and has stated that spillage from international oil transportation vessels is responsible for the generation of tar balls.
An environmental scientist in the State believes that a permanent national solution is required to stop the generation of tar balls, which are ruining Goa’s beaches.
“Pollution control agencies like the Goa Pollution Control Board and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority have completely failed to raise and tackle this issue,” said a retired scientist from the Goa University.
“There are many studies about the source of tar balls, its composition and its carcinogenic nature. There will be layers of tar balls deposited on the sea shores of Goa. We need to systematically remove and dispose them,” the scientist said.
“These tar balls are carcinogenic and a study of cancer (blood, lung, skin cancers) in the coastal area should be conducted which can be related to tar balls. We need data so that Goa can take the lead in safeguarding the interest of people along the coast in the international court of law. But for that, political will is required.”
“International oil transportation vessels need to be monitored strictly, otherwise it will destroy the tourism industry in Goa. We can term it as Environmental Terrorism,” said the scientist.
He suggested that incineration and decomposition using microbes to generate biofuels, usage in construction of roads and deep burial are the probable methods for disposal of these tar balls.
