Team Herald
VASCO: Over 5,000 people under the banner of ‘Rozgar Bachao Abhiyan’(RBA) on Tuesday marched along the streets of Vasco to protest the decision of Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) withdrawing its consent to handle coal at Berths 5A and 6A and to demand for their right to livelihood and for the survival of Mormugao Port.
Members of the Mormugao Port fraternity including employees and workers, their dependents and other port users including transporters, stevedores, vessel agents and others holding placards in their hands flooded the FL Gomes Road in Vasco. The rally that kick-started from IOC junction later concluded in a public meeting at the Mormugao Port Institute in Vasco. The serving employees and a large number of pensioners of the MPT were joined by the employees of the shipping companies, stevedores, transporters and all the trade connected with the port operations.
This was for the first time in the history of the port town that such a massive gathering of people came together in a silent and peaceful manner demanding their right to employment and sustenance. A memorandum was also handed over to the Deputy Collector Mormugao Mahadev Arundekar by the RBA Convener Shekar Khadapkar, and others.
RBA members demanded that GSPCB should be unbiased in reporting the pollution figures and issuing guidelines to contain pollution, besides restoring the consent to handle coal at the port. The speakers made a fervent plea to the State Government and the State Authorities not to infringe the Port’s authority, which is a Central Government body to serve the maritime trade, to prescribe pollution containment measures and to restore the consent to handle coal at the port as per the environmental norms and guidelines.
Khadapkar said, “I am the son of a retired port employee and today my mother is receiving pension from the Port. Mormugao Port has sustained the economy of the state and contributed to the society in various spheres be it employment, education, medical facilities, etc. and it has sustained the economic activity for generations. The consent to handle coal at the port within permissible limits should be given”.
Laxmikant Gawde, General Secretary of the Goa Port and Dock Employees’ Union said coal handling at the port is essential to meet the salaries of its officers and employees and the monthly pension bill of the pensioners which is around Rs 250 crore per annum. He spoke on the various measures initiated by the port to minimize pollution at source and appealed to restore the consent to handle coal in the port.
Leonard Rodrigues said, “GSPCB has no jurisdiction to dictate to us the type of cargo to be handled and the quantity. It is a statutory authority entrusted upon the port by the major Port Trust Act, and the port takes all necessary precautions.”
and measures for safe handling of cargo as per the guidelines of the Dock Safety Regulations and Statutes. Ministry of Shipping has notified 65 million metric tonnes of cargo to be handled by the Mormugao Port, and I therefore appeal to the State authorities to restore the consent to handle coal at the port within the permissible limits.”
Extending full support of the Shipping Agents and Mormugao Stevedores Association to Mormugao port for its growth, Ashish Machado said, “We are with MPT. Among the many organisations of the state we know of very few, who have natured generations of Goans. We stand by MPT with this one reason alone and are for strict pollution control but let it be across every form. We support pollution control. We stand for a clean and green Goa”.
Prasad Nayak, president of the MPT Officers’ Association questioned the Goa State Pollution Control Board’s wisdom in monitoring pollution levels in the port ‘at source’ rather than taking the readings of Ambient Air quality.
Frankey Gomes, president of the South Goa Truckers’ Association appealed to the Government to restore the consent to handle coal at Mormugao Port with necessary guidelines.
He highlighted the plight of the truck operators and the fate of their families, which are totally dependent on the port’s existence. He said hundreds of families, which are directly dependent on the Port for their survival will face economic crisis.
