Locals had complained that tar balls were also found further up at Mobor beach and at Benaulim beach as well.
Speaking to Herald on Thursday, GSPCB chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said that the authorities were acting as per the Goa State Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan.
“The contingency plan is in the case of oil spill or tar ball washout and in this case at Varca, the scientists from GSPCB along with NIO scientists visited the site to collect samples. It is a simple process,” said Noronha.
He added that while the samples will be analyzed, Thursday’s inspection was carried out in the presence of the Tourism department that carries out the beach cleaning drive.
“Regarding the tar balls still on the beach, the Tourism department will clean it up and put it in a container and send it to The Energy and Resources Institute,(TERI) for itsbio-remediation,” said Noronha.
As per the contingency plan, the Tourism department has to clean up the beach without using any mechanical methods as these would kill organisms under the sand.
This is the first contingency plan drawn up in the country and is designed to enhance the State’s ability to respond to a spill and lists roles and responsibilities, both preventive and during exigencies, of 30 agencies from the GSPCB to the directorates of health services and animal husbandry.
Noronha had earlier stated that the NIO would set up a signature laboratory to help detect the vessel from which the oil spill has occurred and that Goa is as prone as any other state along the coast.
