As is always the case, it is only a few hundreds of Goans who rise up in protest when the development projects are proposed that are detrimental to the environment of Goa. The majority look the other way either because they simply do not care, or are too lethargic to educate themselves about the problem. There are others who take it for granted that the proposed changes coming about will not affect their lifestyles or livelihood and that the protests are driven by vested interests or that the protestors are politically motivated or habitual dissenters with nothing better to do. What is immensely depressing is that a large majority of these people comprise the educated elite who are otherwise seemingly well informed and are strongly opinionated when it comes to problems in other parts of the country or the world, but remain silent when it comes to local issues.
The beast threatening our environment this time is not a small one. The proposed expansion of Mormugao Port will almost triple coal imports through Goa. The contract for expansion of the port has already been awarded, and along with this, plans are already underway for doubling the South Western Railway and roads that come into the harbor.
So how will this affect us all? Increased coal imports, will require increased capacity for stockpiling of coal in open areas of the port, and most certainly elsewhere on vacant lands in Goa. One of the places purportedly set aside for coal stockpiling is a 2.1 lakh m2 plot on Sancoale Plateau, once leased to Meta Strips Ltd by Goa Industrial Development Corporation, and now to a logistics and warehousing company with business interests in coal. More coal stockpiles and the explosion in transportation of coal from the port by trucks will increase the amount of coal dust that will get into the air. Stockpiles of coal on Sancoale Plateau will expose Chicalim, Cansaulim, Velsao, Sancoale, Arrosim, Consua, Cortalim and Verna located in the low lying valleys, to levels of dust that these densely populated villages have never seen or experienced before. Stockpiling of coal on plateaus can contaminate the water table that supplies freshwater to many wells and fields in these villages.
The doubling of railway lines and widening of roads, planned in large part for coal transportation will greatly increase the number of open wagons and trucks plying from Goa to Karnataka, essentially making many Goan villages corridors for transportation of humungous amounts of coal.
The environmental threat to Goa this time is real, and the expansion of the port, the doubling of railway lines, widening of our roads, nationalisation of our rivers to benefit a few industries is the mother of all environmental threats to have confronted Goa. Let us not be lulled by the erroneous belief that pollution due to coal dust if any will be minimal, and will be confined to the port city of Vasco da Gama.
There is nothing that will guarantee us that coal dust pollution will not continue to happen if we throw open our doors to more coal imports. Those living across the port, as far north as Dona Paula, Caranzalem and even Candolim will not be spared this time around. They will have to deal with coal dust on their furniture and floors. According the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), two of the companies with rights to coal import at Mormugao Harbor were the cause of the coal dust problems in the port city as they repeatedly violated all prescribed environmental norms with lax dust control measures. Yet, despite their grave concerns, the GSPCB recently granted environmental clearance for the expansion of the coal terminal.
The favorable Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report that allowed the dredging for the new coal terminal to commence, and on which perhaps the Goa Coastal Zone Management Agency relied upon to grant its recent approval of the expansion of the port was also based on flawed and misleading information presented in the EIA report. The field studies around the port were done over barely a period of two days. An EIA study of this magnitude should have been undertaken over several months if not years since it should involve the hydrology of the area. None of the locals were ever consulted during the EIA study instead the report mentions that a third to half of the populace likely to be affected are illiterate. This report prepared by WAPCOS, a Govt. of India undertaking devotes 59 pages to a baseline ecological study all filled with information that is of limited use to assess the impact of the dredging. Only 5 pages that follow are devoted to the potential environmental and ecological consequences of the dredging, but sadly with conclusions that are hardly based on thoughtful analysis or on scientific rationale. The report makes no mention of the rich coral reefs surrounding the mouth of the harbour and completely ignores the devastating consequences of the dredging on benthic marine fauna upstream of Zuari River.
Countries around the world are struggling with problems of smog, acid rain etc. arising out coal use and are phasing it out as fuel to meet their energy needs. Over the last few years, many countries have hastily begun reducing their dependency on coal because of their realisation that coal usage, CO2 emissions and coal dust are serious threats to the environment and to human health. India cannot afford to and shouldn’t make the same mistake by going down the coal path not only because of the costs to human health, but because a warmer planet poses a huge threat to our monsoonal system and erratic monsoons can completely wipe our country’s economic gains of the last several years.
(The author is ex-scientist National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. Presently Professor, Columbia University, New York).
