PANJIM: The Miramar shoreline has started showing signs of damage with augmented soil erosion and wave-cut vertical scarp along the frontal pioneer dune due to the grounding of the offshore casino ship M V Lucky 7. However, the monsoon has also played a major role wherein soil erosion is an annual phenomenon.
“There are some changes happening to the shoreline. However, it is the monsoon time and it has its own natural effect. The effect of high waves and high wind is due to the monsoons too and the beach gets eroded but also restored thereafter. From a scientific point of view, this boat has had a tricky effect on the shore,” retired National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) Scientist Antonio Mascarenhas told Herald.
The expert, who is also conducting regular surveys of the beach, revealed that erosion of dunes along the beach strip of 70-80 meters is prior to the grounding of the huge vessel. The 5,000-odd tonne ship has, however, added a further two meters of erosion. “The vessel’s presence has augmented erosion by about two meters. There is also a wave cut vertical scarp along the frontal pioneer dune,” he added.
Mascarenhas, also a former expert member of Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority, opined that any obstruction in the coastal area can have unforeseen results. “Erosion of dunes and formation of sand deposit on the northern side of the Caranzalem-Miramar beach are the effects of the casino vessel,” he said.
But Gopal Kanda, who is surely no scientist nor an environmental expert, claims that there has been no environmental damage. “Since the time it is (stranded) at Miramar beach, not a drop of fuel has fallen in the water and neither the environment is damaged. How can I allow damage to happen?” GGHPL owner Gopal Kanda told Herald. His insistence on getting the ship into the Mandovi waters is what caused the damage nit just to the ship but to the environment around Miramar beach.
Kanda said that the vessel, once towed from the shores of the beach, will be taken to Mumbai or Ratnagiri dockyard for repairs. He has incidentally refused to take the vessel to MPT before re-floating to the neighbouring state, fearing it could be damaged further.
As pressure mounts to remove the stranded ship, the company has initiated talks with an international salvor after nearly tying-up with Goa’s Madgavkar Salvage Pvt Ltd. The salvaging operation is, however, not expected to take place before September 15. Kanda confirmed that officials are in talks with the international agency, whose experts are also inspecting the ship.
No GCZMA officials were available for a comment on the issue.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has also taken serious cognisance of the delay in salvaging the vessel pointing at potential damage to the environment. “We are acutely mindful of history, not yet faded from public memory is the incident of the MV River Princess at Calangute, and what followed as damage to that beach and shoreline, plus, of course, the ultimate costs of that vessel’s removal. We will not permit a repetition here,” the court had observed during the case hearing last week.
The bench had warned to hold the company responsible for the slightest environmental damage and loss caused to Miramar Beach or any beach downstream. “Casinos will come and go, they are replaceable. But beaches are not,” it had said.
