15 Sep 2021  |   06:23am IST

State to send reminder to MoEF&CC seeking solution to tarballs issue

Team Herald


PANJIM: Concerned over the growing phenomenon of tarballs sullying Goan beaches before as well as after the monsoon, the Goa government will send a reminder to the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) seeking a solution to the recurring problem.

Last year, State Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral had submitted a detailed report to the Union Ministry, based on the study undertaken by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), however, the Ministry has failed to respond till date. 

“We are writing yet another letter to the Ministry as the phenomenon this time is more. Despite limited movement of oil tanks or barges or ships in deep sea in view of COVID-19 pandemic, the tarballs this time have surfaced more compared to the last two-three years and this needs to be handled immediately,” Cabral told Herald.

Cabral said that according to the NIO report, last year, the phenomenon was due to the movement of oil tankers as well as from Bombay High. “Since the issue is not within our purview, we need the Central government to initiate steps,” he said. 

The Minister also said that the phenomenon is not only on Goan beaches but also on the Maharashtra coast. “Several stretches of the West Coast are facing the problem. We don’t know whether this is an oil spillage or what, and hence the Centre needs to intervene,” he said. 

Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has been entrusted with the task of collecting samples of the tarballs that surfaced across several beaches like Miramar, Cacra, Anjuna, etc. “Samples, reports and photographs will be forwarded to the Union Ministry,” Cabral said.

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar