Team Herald
VASCO: The worst fear, expressed by Vasco residents and political leaders that the city is virtually sitting on a time bomb, almost came true on Friday morning when ammonia tanker overturned at Chicalim, creating panic, distress and chaos.
“I strongly feel that the people of port town are sitting on a virtual time bomb that might explode any time, the way it exploded in form of ammonia leakage due to ammonia tanker mishap today,” MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik said.
“On one hand we have coal that continues to pollute the city, posing health risk to the citizens and on the other hand we have petroleum and ammonia tanks, located right in the heart of Vasco city, threatening lives,” he said, adding, “Today the way one single ammonia tanker mishap forced hundreds of people to run for their lives, it would be very difficult to imagine the situation if there is any leakage in the 5,000 tonne capacity ammonia tank located inside MPT and close to residential areas.”
“Today’s incident is an eye-opener for all of us as we have realised that the issue of having ammonia tank in the city cannot be taken lightly. It needs to be shifted out of the city, the way some petroleum companies shifted majority of their oil tanks to Zuarinagar. I will place the matter before the forthcoming council meeting. If required I will call for special council meeting so that we can take a unanimous resolution demanding shifting of ammonia tank out of Vasco city,” he said.
Raising similar concerns, Councillor Kritesh Gaonkar said ammonia tanks in Vasco were life threatening and if anything happened to the ammonia tank situated at MPT, then, the people of Headland Sada would become the first victims.
“We should not allow such hazardous installations to continue their operations keeping people’s life at risk,” he said.
“I think more than coal, people should fight to move ammonia tanks out of the port city. My house is located right next to ammonia tank and I know the consequences if any mishap happens. I will fully support the council if it takes any decision to shift ammonia tank out of Vasco city,” the former chairperson Shekhar Khadapkar said.
