The government and its officials, especially the Collector, do not know their responsibilities. With the new designation of MPT to MPA, the latter is primarily responsible to tackle the tarball menace. They are silent. The government is silent. Clearly, the MPA is formed only to usurp the seas and seashores so as to hand over the same to crony businessmen for marinas and jetties. RGP, AAP and the new faces are silent.
In 2014, late Parrikar gave responsibilities to various departments to tackle tarballs. The Collector was designated as the officer in command and in charge of activating shoreline response and operations. Do you see him command? GSPCB must collect and send the tarballs for testing. NIO must conduct fingerprinting and find the source. COP: monitor vessels and control oil spillages, DG Shipping: control ships and direct them to clean up. Tourism Dept: make available personnel to clean the beaches. Now, it is the Port -MPT- that must act to clean and protect all areas under its jurisdiction. The Indian Ports Bill has designated all beaches under MPT, but it seems only to ‘sell’ to favoured businessmen not to protect locals. This is the hallmark of the BJP government.
And all the king’s horses and men pat their shoulders and declare: I am ready to lead Goa. After all, speaking problems away is child’s play.
