PANJIM: In a major setback to infrastructure giant JSW-owned South West Port Limited (SWPL), Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) on Tuesday rejected their application for grant of fresh Consent to Operate for the coal handling facility at Berth numbers 5A and 6A for failing to have a valid environment clearance (EC). The EC for the facility granted in 2001 was valid only for a period of five-years.
GSPCB on January 8 had revoked the Consent to Operate granted under Air and Water Pollution Act to the SWPL for being involved in excess coal handling. Accordingly, the firm had applied for fresh consent in the very same month.
Speaking to Herald, GSPCB chairman Ganesh Shetgaonkar said the Board, which met on Tuesday afternoon, rejected SWPL’s application on grounds of the company not having a valid EC. “The EC, which was granted in 2001, was valid for a period of five years only. There is no grant of fresh EC for the project,” he said.
As per the application filed by SWPL before the Board, the EC for the facility at berth 5A and 6A of MPT was obtained in January 24, 2001. “The said EC does not specify any cargo limits for the terminal. However, in the application made for EC to the ministry of shipping, the feasibility report, terrestrial environmental impact assessment report, and marine EIA report give the likely traffic projections separately,” they said.
SWPL said that in the feasibility report, it was clearly mentioned that in 2011-12, out cargo projections at berth 5A and 6A would be 13.88 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), increasing gradually from 2.5 MMTPA at the start of project in 2004.
Earlier in January, while revoking the Consent, the Board had arrived at a clear finding that SWPL has committed a gross breach of the Consent condition granted to it on July 21, 2017, by virtue of the fact that it has handled a total quantity of 10.112 million tonnes of coal/coke during the year 2016-17, though the Board had permitted the unit to handle only 4.125 million tonnes of coal annually for the year 2016-17.
The Board has also raised objection before the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for grant of EC to the SWPL expansion facility, while it has ordered Source Apportionment studies at MPT to identify the exact cause of pollution in the vicinity. The study will begin from April.
