PANAJI
The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) may have accepted the study by IIT-Bombay on air quality in Vasco but a major controversy is in the air on the scope of the study, after the IIT was found to have overlooked GSPCB’s request to include a study on air pollution beyond 10 microns of particulate matter.
While the government claims the study had been narrowed to only air pollution below 10 microns of particulate matter since these particles were a more serious threat to health, a Vasco-based petitioner in a public interest litigation has slammed the study as 'fallacious'.
The petitioner, Sherwyn Correia, who has sought a ban on coal handling operations in Vasco, has highlighted the “mismatch” between the concerns raised in the PIL filed in 2018 and the ‘Particulate source apportionment study for air quality in Vasco’ conducted by the IIT-Bombay.
The report of this study, which was funded by the Mormugao Port Trust, was accepted by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) in December 2021.
Correia said while the PIL spoke about all kinds of coal dust pollution, the IIT-B had only studied “invisible dust” (particles below PM10 and PM2.5).
He has opined that by excluding the analysis of particulate matter beyond PM10, the IIT-B study had failed to address Vasco’s coal dust pollution issue.
THE SCOPE
It may be pointed out that the Department of Environment and Climate Change was fully aware of the scope of the study.
During a session of the Goa Legislative Assembly in January 2021, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral had tabled a response admitting that IIT Bombay’s interim phase one report on the study suggests the possibility of coal fugitives emanating from Mormugao Port being above PM10.
He also informed the House that GSPCB wrote to IIT Bombay in April 2019 to widen its scope beyond PM10 in the study for air quality at Vasco. Cabral had further assured the House that the scope of the study was amended to this effect.
THE JUSTIFICATION
When asked why the GSPCB accepted the report even when its request for the widening of the scope of the study to include particulate matter above PM10 was overlooked by the IIT-B, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nilesh Cabral said, “We found out that particles below PM 10 and below PM 2.5 which are a more serious threat to health and cause health issues.”
“Hence, we decided to make studying those dust particles our first priority.”
THE REJECTION
Correia rejected Cabral’s claim that the study of particles below PM10 and below PM2.5 were given the first priority as they are a more serious threat to health.
“It is fallacious to say that coal particulate matter larger than 10 microns does not pose a health hazard. Vasco residents, including me, have been experiencing coal dust clearly visible and regularly settling in our homes, schools and offices, that pose a lot of hardships and nuisance,” said Correia.
He explained that both ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ coal dust are cause for concern and the main intention of their PIL in the high court was to raise concern over coal dust, both visible and invisible.
“However, this visible dust has not been addressed in the IIT-B study. We reject the study that unilaterally excludes particulate matter larger than 10 microns, as it does not address our core concerns, which have been raised in our PIL.”
“There appears to be a mismatch between the PIL, which prompted the study in the first place, and the scope of the actual study, that conveniently excluded coal particulate matter larger than 10 microns (visible dust),” said Correia.
Correia claimed that even 20 per cent to 30 per cent of coal dust component of PM2.5 and PM10, which was identified in the IIT-B study, is high enough to cause serious health impacts from long-term exposure.
“The GSPCB must come clear on what it intends to do to reduce air pollution in Vasco from coal dust, vehicular pollution and biomass burning, as has been identified in the IIT study,” the petitioner added.
