PORVORIM: Ruling out the possibility of turning Goa into a coal hub, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday reiterated on the Floor of the House that the government will not allow expansion of the coal handling facility proposed at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) and urged the opposition not to instigate people, when there is no coal-related issue in the State. 

Parrikar, replying to a Zero Hour mention, announced that the State will never encourage coal-based power plants and that the decision in this regard is taken in 2002. 

“I have been repeatedly saying that we are not stopping coal at MPT. We won’t allow any expansion of coal at MPT. I am very much clear on that,” the Chief Minister said. 

“There is no coal issue at all in the State,” Parrikar said, indirectly urging the opposition not to instigate people when there is no issue. 

The Chief Minister was responding after Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral had an exchange of words over the coal issue during Zero Hour. 

Parrikar said that any commodity is transported or exported to a place where there is a demand. “The coal transportation takes place where there is a need for it,” the Chief Minister said adding that the raw material is required either for power generation or steel manufacturing units.

“There is no issue of having both the facilities in Goa,” Parrikar claimed, informing the House that the State had rejected a proposal to set up coal-based power plant in 2002. “And we are not going to encourage coal-based power plant even in future,” he added. 

Parrikar said that steel manufacturing plants are not possible to be set up in Goa as the existing iron ore in the State is of low quality. 

Earlier, in a series of written replies tabled on the floor of the House, Chief Minister informed the House that the air quality in Vasco varies from predominantly satisfactory to moderately polluted, more so in summer and in November 2017.

“The GSPCB has already initiated action by issuing show cause notices to South West Port and MPT as it is come to the notice of GSPCB that South West Port has handled coal exceeding the limits prescribed in the consent issued to it,” he said, further stating that the Board has also written to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests not to grant permission for the expansion project till the Source Apportionment Study through Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is completed.

Parrikar said that as per the Consents of the Board, South West Port Ltd, is permitted to handle 4.125 MMT/annum and Adani Mormugao Port Terminal is permitted to handle 3.29 MMT/annum.

The series of questions were tabled by Leader of the Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, BJP MLA Carlos Almeida, Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and NCP MLA Churchill Alemao.