22 Feb 2019  |   04:52am IST

Vasco battle against pollution has a new enemy – Wooden chips

First it was coal, then

the people of Vasco found wooden chips washed on the shore as well as in the sea and then they got to know that a ship laden with goats and sheep was sailing to Dubai from MPT.

While the export of lifestock may not be directly linked to pollution, the presence of wooden chipsshows that for two years, this issue, while raised by Mormugao Against Pollution (MAP), has remained unaddressed.

In 2016, the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) had allowed stacking of wood-chip cargo beyond permissible limits. Moreover, the cargo was left open and the dust from this cargo affected fishermen working at the Khariwado Jetty.

The same thing happened last week when large quantities of wooden chips washed ashore on Kharewaddo beach.

Join Café & Conversations to discuss this

1) Like a ban on coal handling, should there be a total ban on the handling of wooden chips

2) Why has there been so much spillage of wooden chips?

3) Apart from MPT, who else is responsible

4) What are the action points to stop this?