The people’s movement against the expansion of MPT’s coal handling facilities, which has taken a stringent stance against pollution in the port town, finds it almost unbelievable the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is speaking exactly their language, on the issue. In fact Mr Parrikar’s statements on the coal pollution in Vasco, echo the narrative of the people of Vasco against any further increase in coal handling or expansion of facilities for coal handling.
While statements of this nature were emanating from Goa’s official quarters the past fortnight, the Chief Minister’s announcement that the Goa Pollution Control Board had initiated a prosecution process against MPT and the two companies handling coal at the berths, for exceeding the pollution limits was something no one had expected.
The two companies are the Adani Mormugao Port and Private Ltd and South West Port Ltd, the latter being a JSW infrastructure, a part of the OP Jindal group. These are two of the largest conglomerates in the country with their area of influence spanning across the current ruling dispensation at the centre.
With the state now fully backing the movement against coal pollution, both the MPT and the two companies, will face a setback to their moves of expanding facilities and handling more coal.
Prominent citizen’s voices, which spoke out against coal pollution vociferously are coming to terms with this unexpected wave of government support. The decision to actually serve notices to the corporate heavyweights, against whom the public ire has been directed for causing pollution, cannot but attract support. However the response has been that of circumspection rather than outright support.
The state government is now planning to convey to the Union Minister for Shipping and Highways Nitin Gadkari the decision of not allowing enhanced coal handling facility until it curbs pollution.
However, it must be brought on record that the MPT has challenged the data regarding pollution by stating that GSPCB is collecting source data and is comparing the same with ambience standards, which effectively means that pollution is monitored at the heart of the port, where pollution levels are higher and these readings are applied to suggest that the ambient atmosphere was polluted.
Both the Adani and the Jindal companies have offered their preliminary defences. South West Port Limited has stated that it would be carrying out operations in an enclosed environment by constructing a 125 meters span covered shed, which ensures almost zero emissions while the Adani Mormugao Port and Private Ltd told Herald have never handled coal beyond 2 million tons, which is only 10 to 15% of their capacity and hence they cannot be called polluter.
But this is a battle they have to fight with MPT and the Goa government since the latter is quite clearly not in a mood to allow any further increase of their coal operations. For the people agitating to protect their town Vasco from coal pollution, the government’s stand is an unexpected windfall. If this leads to a check or even a stop in the coal pollution in Vasco, a long, hard people’s battle in Vasco would have finally been won.
