MARGAO
Tar balls (oily substance) have surfaced along Salcete southern coastal belt in the last few days, posing a threat to the tourism industry as well as the local fishing communities.
Local residents of Cavelossim village have once again made a fervent plea to the government to devote attention to the tar ball menace, saying the oily substance not just threatens the local fishing communities, but poses a threat to the fragile eco-system.
Tar balls surface along the coast just before the onset of monsoons, with sources saying the oily substance, which is being released by vessels, is washed ashore just ahead of the rainy season.
Chairman of Cavelossim Biodiversity Committee Dixon Vaz has dashed off a letter to the Chairman of the Goa State Biodiversity Board, Department of Science and Technology and the South Goa Disaster Management office to fix a joint meeting (virtual) to discuss the issue in order to avert any environmental disaster.
In his letter, Dixon said he had brought the issue to the attention of the Environment Minister, which had advised the committee to take up the matter with the NIO and other related agencies to find out the root cause of the tar ball menace surfacing during summer before the onset of monsoons.
Dixon pointed out that the oily substance poses a very serious threat to the tourism dependent villages as well as to the fishing communities who are solely dependent on fishing activities as their livelihood. “The tar balls damages the entire eco-system of our coast line which is marked as CRZ-I in the CRZ notification 2011, which is a highly protected area under the Environment Protection Act. These intertidal zone (Land between HTL and LTL) is a biodiversity hotspot as we have a lot of marine species such as turtles and ghost crabs which are protected under Wild Life Protection Act,” he said.
Dixon added: “We have also suggested that the government should take the assistance of the Goa Coast Guard and MMD Vasco as this is related to the sea,” he added.
