NAGOA/VERNA: The coal dump at the Verna Railway Station has been cleared but the questions have not. Even as the State and its people, especially in the areas in coastal Mormugao and adjoining Salcete are battling against Goa being converted into a coal dump, the locals of Verna were suddenly subjected to heaps of coal stacked alongside the railway track at the Verna Railway Station which Herald reported.
The coal was removed in orders of the Deputy Collector after the issue came to light. However, it’s important to flag the reasons why this came to pass.
The coal was actually dumped by a transport contractor acting as a third party for a coal manufacturing unit in Amona. Deputy Collector Prasad Volvoikar told Herald that he welcomes the decision of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the local authorities. He said that he has directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board to file an FIR against the Railway authorities and the contractor. He also said that as a Deputy Collector he has already taken the necessary action.
When Herald TV visited the site on Thursday, the coal dump was cleared completely and filled in wagons. Earlier, the villagers of Verna on Tuesday strongly opposed the stacking of coal by a mining firm near Nagoa-Verna Railway Station. According to the villagers, who rushed to the site along said that more than 20 trucks of coal was dumped and stacked near the Verna Railway Station belonging to the Konkan Railway Corporation.
The villagers along with local authorities stopped another 30 trucks, which were waiting in the queue to offload coal. On getting the information, Deputy Collector Prasad Volvoikar had visited and inspected the site. Locals had alleged that the coal was stacked without obtaining necessary permissions from any local authorities.
John Philip Pereira, chairman Village Nagoa Biodiversity committee, who did a site inspection and confronted the party that dumped the coal said, “We locals condemn such acts. When the Deputy Collector spoke to the Goa State Pollution Control Board it was revealed that there was no permissions given by the pollution control board to dump the coal. However, after swift orders from the Deputy collector the coal dump has been cleared.
Former panch member Anzil Godhino told Herald that there was a huge dump of coal dumped in Nagoa.
“We were shocked to see amount of coal. We came to know that the transport company was handling the transportation of coal for Vedanta through Konkan Railway. The station house officer (SHO) told us that they had given permission to shift the cargo here, from Goa to Jharkhand. There were around 50-60 trucks here from Karnataka and Goa, fully loaded with coal that came from Amona,” Anzil said.
Locals also said that the land on which coal was dumped is cleared for cement transportation. We made sure that the trucks were removed. Then later it was ensured that the coal was removed within two days. At 6 o’clock the pollution controller was also there. They made sure that no such permission was given to dump the coal here.
However, Godinho said, “We have also taken an assurance from the transportation company that no coal or any kind of substances will be dumped in the Verna yard.”
Meanwhile, a former sarpanch of Nagoa said that some people claimed that they got permission from Belapur. But it was totally illegal. Finally, a truck came and cleared everything. The police and collector were very helpful. I request the panchayat that such a thing should not happen again because it ruins the village environment.
Surprisingly, senior Railway officials told Herald that they had no clue about this act. The coal transportation is given to a third party wherein they are supposed to transport the coal from one place to another, but the coal was offloaded and dumped illegally at the station which resulted in confusion and mess. But with the quick intervention from the local authorities including the Goa State Pollution Control Board and Deputy Collector the tense situation was controlled and the entire coal dumped in a 150-metre plus area has been cleared. When asked who was responsible for dumping the coal, he said a private transportation company — Smart Cargo.
Herald tried to get in touch with the Smart Cargo officials, who did not effectively respond.
