For the residents of Vasco who have had to deal with coal pollution for years., this
decision to revoke the suspension of coal transportation will highlight their
unimportance in the larger scheme of things. Mubarak Rangapur a resident of
Vasco and a local businessman was blunt in his assessment of the situation. He
said “The authorities don’t really care. They have turned a blind eye to the
fate of the residents of the area. There have been demonstrations in the past
against this problem, promises have been made but nothing positive came out of
it all. I have a local business and I can see how the people are suffering but
nothing really changes”.
According to him the local MLA had promised to end it all but it
remained just that, empty promises. According to Mubarak the business was so
lucrative and many in the political class had benefited financially from it.
The Vascokar, he said was on the backfoot and this decision would bring back
all the old problems which was rather unfortunate. The people however, he felt
would continue to agitate for a better quality of life.
For Kiran Raje, someone who was born and educated in Vasco and
now involved in local activism, this problem had two faces. He said it was
obvious without a doubt that coal was injurious to health. It was the small
particle in the air, the dust in the house which was found on the floor. Its
effects on children were well documented but also the rather unfortunate part
of this problem, he said was that it provided jobs to around 1000 people
directly. All of whom, he felt lived in Vasco. There were families that lived
off those salaries which meant, one could say around 3000 people depended on
the continuation of that business.
Perhaps, he felt what could be done could be the transfer of
coal in closed containers. Tare also added “Leaders got involved in the issue
for their own personal benefit and moved on without finding a permanent
solution. The people of Vasco, would now have to find that solution”
This decision could increase the work load of ENT Specialist
Parag Sawant. He was of the opinion that any pollution would aggravate problems
like sneezing, sinus infections to name just a few. He would not comment as to
the long-term ramifications of the move but felt it would be worthy of watching
the situation closely.
Perhaps
the final word could go to Savio Naronha a resident on the airport road in
Vasco and a advocate by profession. He said “This decision will result in
serious health issues and an increase in problems like Cancer and its needs to
be stopped immediately”. When asked how this could be done, he said perhaps the
implementation of a law could help. The situation was such, he felt when the
day was not far when a person riding a two-wheeler would have to cover his or
her face to battle the pollution. Or even worse, it would just not be possible
to ride a two-wheeler and everyone would be forced to drive around in a car.
Memorandums had been given and the tragedy was he said in this time of
elections, instead of it being a health issue, it has become a political one.
